The dazzling jewellery of Italy's last queen will be sold in London next week at an auction expected to raise millions of euros.
Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy, 67, the daughter of King Umberto II and Queen Marie José, is selling 41 of the splendid jewels she inherited from her mother at Christie's on June 13.
Experts say the most precious piece being offered is a diamond tiara made by Fabergé in 1895. This item alone is estimated to be worth between 600,000 and 900,000 euros.
Known as the Empress Josephine Tiara, it contains a set of tear-drop diamonds given by Russian Tsar Alexander I to the Empress Josephine, the wife of Napoleon. It came to the Italian queen via her brother, Prince Karl Theodor, Count of Flanders.
Also going under the hammer is a set of matching, diamond-and-turquoise jewellery comprising a necklace, two bracelets, earrings and brooches.
The set, worth at least 45,000 euros was given to Maria José by her parents, the king and queen of Belgium, when she went to marry the heir to the Italian throne, Umberto of Savoy, in 1930.
The jewels are part of the inheritance of Maria José, who died in 2001 in Geneva. Her three other children reportedly said they would prefer to forgo the inheritance, mainly for tax reasons.
Princess Maria Gabriella said in an interview with Corriere della Sera on Wednesday that by accepting the inheritance she was also on a bill of over a million euros in inheritance tax.
"I decided to shoulder the honours and the burden," she said.
ART, FURNITURE, BED SHEETS.
In addition to the jewels, other parts of the inheritance will be sold off at Christie's on June 27. This lot includes paintings, furniture, musical instruments and even bed linen from the royal palace of Racconigi near Turin.
Princess Maria Gabriella says she intends to keep only a few things, including books from the library and a desk that belonged to her mother.
After the sale, she says any money left over when succession taxes have been paid will be spent on the upkeep of the family home in Geneva.
Italy's former royal family was banished in 1946 following a national referendum introducing the Republic, their name tainted by the links of Emanuele's grandfather, Vittorio Emanuele III, with Fascism.
The male members of the Savoys were subsequently banned from entering Italy by the 1948 Constitution. But in November 2002, after a long campaign waged by Vittorio Emanuele and his family, the Italian parliament lifted the ban.
