Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy

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**Titular Italian Royal Family**

HRH The Prince of Naples HRH The Princess of Naples HRH The Prince of Venice & Piedmont HRH The Princess of Venice & Piedmont HRH Princess Vittoria HRH Princess Luisa HRH Princess Maria Pia HRH Princess Maria Gabriella HRH Princess Maria Beatrice HI&RH Princess Margherita HRH Princess Maria Cristina HRH The Duke of Aosta HRH The Duchess of Aosta HRH Princess Bianca HRH The Duke of Apulia HRH Princess Mafalda HRH Princess Isabella
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Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy (Maria Gabriella Giuseppa Aldegonda Adelaide Daisy Ludovica Felicita Gennara di Savoia (born 24 February 1940 in Naples) is the middle daughter of Italy's last king, Umberto II and his queen, Marie José of Belgium.

1 Marriage
2 Relationship with the Shah of Iran
3 Ancestry
4 References

[edit] Marriage

She married Roberto Zellinger de Balkany (born 1931) on February 12, 1969 in Saint-Mesme. The religious wedding was celebrated later on June 21, 1969 at Eze-sur-Mer, with the couple separating in 1976. They divorced in 1990. She was educated in languages and is a noted historian, especially on Italian issues. She has also authored a number of books.

The couple had one child:

Marie Elizabeth Zellinger de Balkany (born 1972, married Olivier Janssens in 2003)

[edit] Relationship with the Shah of Iran

In the 1950s, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, then divorced from his second wife, indicated his interest in marrying Princess Maria Gabriella. Pope John XXIII reportedly vetoed the suggestion. In an editorial about the rumors surrounding the marriage of "a Muslim sovereign and a Catholic princess", the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, considered the match "a grave danger,"^[1] especially considering that under the 1917 Code of Canon Law a Roman Catholic who attempted to contract a marriage with a divorced person could incur the penalty of excommunication.