Italian Kings And Queens
Posters lambasting the royal family as 'traitors of Italy' and 'slaughterers of the South' have appeared around Naples - the latter a reference to the rough treatment meted out to southern 'brigands' when the Savoys became rulers of a newly-united Italy in the 19th century. There is added hostility in the South because Naples was the seat of the rival Bourbon dynasty until it was displaced by the Savoys. Outside Naples cathedral, where the Savoys are expected to attend Mass today, the hard-Right Movimento Sociale is planning a sit-in, demanding that the family 'apologise' for their wrongs. An impulsive man, the present-day Victor Emmanuel, who has renounced all claims to the throne, did little to enhance the family reputation when, five years ago, he described Mussolini's racial laws - which eventually led to the deportation of 8,000 Jews to concentration camps - as 'not all that bad'. Some, at least, were clamouring to see him. Naples socialites battled for invitations to drinks at the Circolo dell'Unione, the city's stuffiest club, or to a gala dinner at the glitzy Vesuvius Hotel, where the Savoys are staying.
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But to the Savoys' astonishment, the city's mayor, Rosa Russo Jervolino, turned down a 15,000-euro (£10,000) donation by the prince to a city hospice, claiming it was a publicity stunt. She said that the family had wanted a plaque unveiled in Victor Emmanuel's honour. 'Charity must be done quietly and not ostentatiously,' she said. The Neo-Bourbon Movement in Naples, meanwhile, printed thousands of stickers showing the Savoy coat of arms surmounted with a 'no entry' sign and the words 'Indietro Savoia' - 'Savoys, go home'. Professor Gennaro De Crescenzo, the movement's president, said: 'The South has nothing to celebrate with the Savoys' return. From unification onwards, they have spelt nothing but death, repression and the plunder of our resources.'