OTHER ROYAL HOUSE FAMILY MEMBERS

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Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples Victor Emmanuel, prince of Naples (Vittorio Emanuele Alberto Carlo Teodoro Umberto Bonifacio Amedeo Damiano Bernardino Gennaro Maria de Savoie), born February 12, 1937) is the head of the house of Savoy. He is known to Italian monarchists as Vittorio Emanuele IV. He lived for most of his life in exile, following the referendum that made Italy a republic. He is not very highly regarded in Italy or abroad, because of a series of blunders, anti-semitic remarks, and even a murder charge. The Prince of Naples is the hereditary head of the royal house of Savoy. As such he is involved directly in the activities of its affairs. With his father's abdication and exile in 1946, however, Victor Emmanuel holds no official Italian royal duties, as Italy is now a republic. King Umberto II, the last king of Italy, however, did not abdicate his position as fons honorum (or fount of honours). Indeed, when he left Italy, he took the hereditary Grand Masterships of the dynastic orders of his royal house with him. These orders were Ordine Supremo dela SS. Annunziata (The Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation) and Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro (The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus). Umberto II held these unto his death in 1983. As Umberto II's heir, Victor Emmanuel succeeded his father as the Grand Master of these dynastic orders when the former king passed away in 1983. Because of this, he is involved in the ceremonies and activities these orders are involved in.  Return to Italy: As with other former monarchies, Italian laws restricted a living monarch, as well as their descendants, from entering their homeland. The royal family of Italy had been banned by a special constitutional "temporary disposition" prohibiting any male member of the House of Savoy from entering Italy after 1948. This was because of the family's collaboration with Fascists, particularly Mussolini. However, recently these laws have been revoked in Italy. Victor Emmanuel had been lobbying the Italian parliament for years to be allowed to return to his homeland after 56 years in exile. He even filed a case at the European Court of Human Rights, in which the prince charged that his lengthy exile violated his rights. In order to achieve a return to his homeland, he renounced any claim to the throne and to Italy's crown jewels. He publicly assured the Italian government that the nation and the crown properties, confiscated by the State in 1946, "are no longer ours". "For that matter we have no claim on the Crown jewels", he said. "We have nothing in Italy and we are not asking for anything". Victor Emmanuel also dropped his case at the European Court of Human Rights. On October 23, 2002, the provision in the Italian constitution that barred the male descendants of the house of Savoy from setting foot in the Italian Republic was abolished, permitting Victor Emmanuel to re-enter the country after November 10 of that year. On his first trip home in over half a century, he and the princess of Naples, and their son, had a 20-minute audience with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. Victor Emmanuel told the press that the audience with the supreme pontiff was "very important" to their family and that "it [was] almost a page in history." The visit lasted just three days. Victor Emmanuel spoke of experiencing "indescribable emotion" upon visiting his homeland for the first time since he was nine years old. The reception of the Savoys was mixed; most people were indifferent to them, some hostile, few supportive. The media reported that many in Naples were not happy to see the return of the family. In Naples, where Victor Emmanuel was born, and from where his family sailed into exile in 1946, noisy demonstrations were staged by two traditionally opposing factions: anti-monarchists on one hand, and supporters of the Bourbon kings of Naples, whose family was deposed when Italy was united in 1861 under the house of Savoy. Controversies: Victor Emmanuel's impulsive personality has resulted in a number of controversies, which have reportedly done little to increase the popularity of the family. On the night of August 17 or the subsequent morning of August 18, 1978, on the island of Cavallo, which lies off the south coast of Corsica, Victor Emmanuel discovered his yacht's rubber dinghy had been taken and attached to another nearby yacht. Arming himself with a rifle, he attempted to board the yacht. He shot at and missed a passenger he had awakened, but hit Dirk Hamer, a passenger sleeping on the deck of another adjacent yacht. The prince admitted civil liability for the death in a letter dated August 28, 1978. Mr. Hamer died of his wounds on December 7, 1978, and Victor Emmanuel was arrested. On October 11, 1989, he was indicted on charges of fatal wounding and offensive weapons possession, but on November 18, 1991 the Paris Assize Court acquitted him of the fatal wounding and unintentional homicide charges, finding him guilty only of unauthorized possession of a US30MI rifle. On May 21, 2004, following a dinner held by King Juan Carlos I of Spain on the eve of the wedding of his son Felipe, Prince of Asturias, Victor Emmanuel punched his cousin and arch-rival Amedeo of Savoy, duke of Aosta twice in his face. The reason of this behaviour is the support duke Amedeo has received from monarchists as legitimate heir to the Italian throne, since Victor Emmanuel had to renounce officially to it in order to return to Italy. Victor Emmanuel also said in recent years that the anti-Semitic laws passed under the Mussolini's regime were "not that terrible". This comes in line with previous statements of the senior member of the Savoys, who had down-played the significance of the anti-Jewish laws signed by his father. He eventually issued an apology to Italy's Jewish leadership for his remarks. However, since these remarks came just before the parliament had to vote about the possibility of letting the Savoys come back to Italy, he immediately built himself the reputation of not being a very intelligent person. His name, moreover, has been found on the list of Licio Gelli's "Propaganda Due" Freemasonic lodge. His membership in this outlawed right-wing Masonic lodge has also tarnished his reputation, as has his involvement in arms dealing on behalf of the Shah of Iran (Victor Emmanuel held his marriage in Tehran, and his son Emanuele Filiberto bears also the name Reza, supposedly a reference to Reza Pahlavi). Prince Victor Emmanuel's reputation has never recovered from these controversies, particularly the murder charge and his anti-Semitic remarks. He is often seen as an embittered, spoilt man dogged by his tendencies toward social gaffes. It is believed that his ill reception in his native land was in part due to his reputation abroad.
Charles, Prince of Wales The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor) (born 14 November 1948), is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He is heir apparent to the thrones of the United Kingdom and 15 other Commonwealth Realms. He has held the title of Prince of Wales since 1958 and is styled HRH The Prince of Wales, and in Scotland, HRH The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay. Constitutionally he is the second most senior member of the British Royal Family after the Queen. The Prince of Wales is well known for his extensive charity work, particularly for the Prince's Trust. He also carries out a full schedule of royal duties, and increasingly is taking on more royal roles from his ageing parents. The Prince is also well known for his high profile marriages to the late Diana, Princess of Wales and subsequently to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Principal title in use Personal arms of Prince Charles From his birth until his mother's accession in 1952, he was known as:  His Royal Highness Prince Charles of Edinburgh From his mother's accession until 1958, he was known as:  His Royal Highness The Duke of Cornwall (outside Scotland);  His Royal Highness The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay (in Scotland) Since 1958, he has been known as:   His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales (outside Scotland) ; His Royal Highness The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay (in Scotland)
Prince Laurent of Belgium His Royal Highness Prince Laurent of Belgium (Laurent Benoît Baudouin Marie Wettin) was born on October 19, 1963, in Brussels, Belgium, to King Albert II and Queen Paola of the Belgians (the then Prince and Princess of Liège). He was educated at the Royal Cadet High School and at the Royal Military Academy. Prince Laurent is very involved with animal welfare and the environment. He is President of the Royal Institute for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and the Promotion of Clean Technologies and President of the Prince Laurent Foundation for the Welfare of Domestic and Wild Animals. Prince Laurent is currently an ambassador for World Harvest, a Washington, D.C. based agricultural research association. He used to be third in line to the throne, but this changed when the constitution was altered so that women would enjoy the same succession rights as men. Rumour has it that this was done on instigation by King Baudouin I, who is said to have disliked Laurent because he did not share the king's strict religious views. He's now 8th in line to the throne. Prince Laurent and Miss Claire Coombs, born in Bath, England, but living in Belgium since childhood, were married on April 12, 2003. Miss Coombs was also given the title of Princess of Belgium upon her marriage. They have one daughter, Princess Louise of Belgium. On June 28, 2005, the couple announced that Princess Claire was pregnant with twins. They are due in January 2006.
Albert Wilhelm Heinrich of Prussia Prince Albert Wilhelm Heinrich of Prussia, known as Prince Heinrich (August 14, 1862 in Berlin – April 20, 1929 in Hemmelmark, Schleswig-Holstein) was a younger brother of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. A career naval officer, he held various commands in the Imperial German Navy and eventually rose to the rank of Grand Admiral. The prince is not to be confused with the Prince Heinrich of Prussia who was the brother of King Friedrich II ("the Great")