View source for Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy

{{Short description| Former Italian princess}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Maria Francesca
| image        = Maria Francesca of Savoy.jpg
| image_size   = 
| caption      =
| title = Princess Louis of Bourbon-Parma
| spouse       = {{Marriage|Prince Louis of Bourbon-Parma|1939|1967|end=died}}
| issue        = Prince Guy<br>Prince Rémy<br>Princess Chantal<br>Prince Jean
| full name    = Maria Francesca Anna Romana di Savoia
| house        = [[House of Savoy|Savoy]]
| father       = [[Victor Emmanuel III|Victor Emmanuel III of Italy]]
| mother       = [[Elena of Montenegro]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1914|12|26|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Rome]], [[Kingdom of Italy]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|2001|12|4|1914|12|26|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Mandelieu-la-Napoule|Mandelieu]], [[France]]
| burial_date  = 
| burial_place = 
| signature    = 
}}

'''Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy''' (Maria Francesca Anna Romana; 26 December 1914 – 4 December 2001)<ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=matchID - Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy |url=https://deces.matchid.io/id/lDIyX5IGhEcK |website=[[Fichier des personnes décédées|Fichier des décès]] |publisher= |access-date=29 September 2023 |language=fr |date=}}</ref> was the youngest daughter of [[Victor Emmanuel III|Victor Emmanuel III of Italy]] and [[Elena of Montenegro]]. In 1939, she married Prince Luigi of Bourbon-Parma. She was the sister of [[Umberto II of Italy]] and [[Giovanna of Italy|Tsaritsa Giovanna of Bulgaria]].

==Biography ==
[[File:Maria Francesca of Savoy and Luigi Carlo of Bourbon-Parma wedding 1939-01-23.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Maria Francesca of Savoy and Luigi di Borbone-Parma at their wedding in 1939.]]
Born on 26 December 1914, Maria Francesca was born in Rome as the fifth and youngest child of her parents. She had three elder sisters, [[Princess Yolanda of Savoy|Yolanda]], [[Giovanna of Italy|Giovanna]], [[Princess Mafalda of Savoy|Mafalda]], and a brother, [[Umberto II of Italy|Umberto]].

On 23 January 1939, in the Pauline Chapel of the [[Quirinal Palace]] in Rome, Maria Francesca married Prince Luigi of Bourbon-Parma (1899–1967), a younger son of [[Robert I, Duke of Parma]], and [[Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal]].<ref name= "ghda">''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser, XII''. "Haus Bourbon". C.A. Starke Verlag, 1984, p. 19. (German).</ref> Her husband was a brother of [[Zita of Bourbon-Parma|Zita, Empress of Austria]],<ref name= "ghda"/> the last Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary.

The couple moved to [[Cannes]], where all four of their children were born.<ref name= "petit"/> Maria was [[internment|interned]] with her husband and two sons by the Nazis during [[World War II]].<ref name= "petit">de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. [[:fr:Guy Coutant de Saisseval|Coutant de Saisseval, Guy]]. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery. Paris. 2002. pp. 597-598, 619. (French) {{ISBN|2-9507974-3-1}}</ref> In 1945 the Anglo-Americans freed them and they returned to Italy. After the war, they lived in Italy for a while, then returned to France.<ref name= "petit"/> She took up permanent residence in [[Mandelieu]], near Cannes, after her husband's death in 1967.<ref name= "ghda"/>
{{clear left}}

They had four children:<ref name= "ghda"/> 
*Prince Guy of Bourbon-Parma (7 August 1940, [[Cannes]] – 10 March 1991, [[Paris]]); married Brigitte Peu-Duvallon on 11 November 1964, divorced on 17 September 1981, with issue.
* Prince Rémy of Bourbon-Parma (born 14 July 1942, Cannes); married firstly Laurence Dufresne d'Arganchy 10 February 1973, divorced 1983, with issue.<ref name= "ghda"/> He married secondly Elisabeth Tardif on 5 July 2003. 
* Princess Chantal of Bourbon-Parma (born 24 November 1946, Cannes); married firstly Panayotis Skinas on 1 July 1977, divorced in 1987, with issue. She married secondly Francois-Henri Georges on 24 September 1988.
* Prince Jean of Bourbon-Parma (born 15 October 1961, Cannes); married Virginia Roatta on 26 March 1988, with issue.<ref name= "petit"/> Jean is the youngest grandchild of [[Robert I, Duke of Parma]].

==Honours==
* {{flagicon|Kingdom of Italy}} [[House of Savoy]]: [[Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus|Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]]<ref name="Honours">genmarenostrum.com, [http://www.genmarenostrum.com/Savoia/savoia-carignano.htm page with the Italian Royal family members' honours]</ref>
* {{flag|Sovereign Military Order of Malta}}: [[Orders, decorations, and medals of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta|Dame Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, 3rd First Class]]<ref name="Honours" />
* {{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} [[House of Habsburg|Austrian Imperial and Royal Family]]: [[Order of the Starry Cross|Dame of the Order of the Starry Cross, 2nd Class]]<ref name="Honours" />

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
| boxstyle_1 = background-color: #fcc;
| boxstyle_2 = background-color: #fb9;
| boxstyle_3 = background-color: #ffc;
| boxstyle_4 = background-color: #bfc;
| 1 = 1. '''Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy'''
| 2 = 2. [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy]]
| 3 = 3. [[Elena of Montenegro|Princess Elena of Montenegro]]
| 4 = 4. [[Umberto I of Italy]]
| 5 = 5. [[Margherita of Savoy|Princess Margherita of Savoy]]
| 6 = 6. [[Nicholas I of Montenegro]]
| 7 = 7. [[Milena of Montenegro|Milena Vukotić]]
| 8 = 8. [[Victor Emmanuel II of Italy]]
| 9 = 9. [[Adelaide of Austria|Archduchess Adelaide of Austria]]
| 10 = 10. [[Prince Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa (1822–1855)|Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa]]
| 11 = 11. [[Princess Elisabeth of Saxony]]
| 12 = 12. [[Mirko Petrović-Njegoš|Mirko Petrović-Njegoš, Grand Duke of Grahovo]]
| 13 = 13. Anastasija Martinović
| 14 = 14. [[Petar Vukotić|Duke Petar Vukotić]]
| 15 = 15. Jelena Voivodić
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/015395}}

{{Princesses of Savoy}}
{{Princesses of Parma by marriage}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Francesca Of Savoy, Princess}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian people]]
[[Category:21st-century Italian people]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian women]]
[[Category:21st-century Italian women]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:21st-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Princesses of Savoy]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]]
[[Category:Knights of Malta]]
[[Category:Italian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Nobility from Rome]]
[[Category:Italian people of Montenegrin descent]]
[[Category:Italian exiles]]
[[Category:Daughters of emperors]]
[[Category:Daughters of kings]]
[[Category:Children of Victor Emmanuel III]]