Prince Aimone, Duke of Apulia

Infobox Italian Royalty|prince
name = Prince Aimone
title = Duke of Apulia


caption =
spouse =Princess Olga of Greece
full name =Aimone Umberto Emanuele Filiberto Luigi Amadeo Elena Maria Fiorenzo
royal house =House of Savoy
father =Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta
mother =Princess Claude of Orléans
date of birth =birth date and age|1967|10|13
place of birth = Florence|

Prince Aimone of Savoy, Duke of Apulia (born 13 October, 1967) is an heir apparent to the disputed headship of the House of Savoy. He has used the title Duke of Aosta since July 2006 when his father assumed the title Duke of Savoy and headship of the royal house. Until then, he used the traditional title of the eldest son of the Duke of Aosta, "Duke of Apulia ("Duca delle Puglie")".

Education and career

Prince Aimone was born in Florence the second child and only son of Prince Amedeo of Savoy, Duke of Aosta and his former wife, Princess Claude of Orléans. Aimone attended the Francesco Morosini Naval College and Bocconi University. After he completed his education, Aimone worked at JPMorgan Chase in the United Kingdom. He also served a period in the Italian Navy. Since 2000, Aimone has lived in Russia where he works for the Italian company Pirelli.

Engagement and marriage

Engagement

Aimone's engagement to his second cousin, Princess Olga of Greece, daughter of Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark, was announced in May 2005. Aimone and Olga are both great-grandchildren of the Orléanist pretender Jean d'Orléans, duc de Guise. Also, Aimone is a great-great-grandson of King George I of the Hellenes through his paternal grandmother, while Olga is a great-granddaughter in the male-line of the same king. The wedding date had been variously reported as 1st or 8th of October, 2005. In August 2005, it was reported that the wedding was to be held in the intimate setting of the isle of Patmos on the 9th of October, with fewer than fifty family members and guests invited to attend. [cite journal|last = Meylan| first = Vincent| date = 2005-08-31| title = Le Plus Royal| journal = Point de Vue| pages = page 21| language = French] But the event did not take place and it is not clear if it was ever actually scheduled for that date. Aimone, in an interview with the Italian daily "La Stampa" on 8 July, 2006, stated that he and his fiancée expected to marry in 2007. However, no wedding date was forthcoming, although the couple were occasionally pictured in society magazines attending monarchist and cultural events in 2006, and one such periodical, "Point de Vue", affirmed that the couple were still betrothed at the end of 2006. [cite journal| date = 2006-12-20| title = Ils Sont Ensemble| journal = Point de Vue| language = French] . Speculation resumed in 2008 when a French journalist, Stephane Bern, who specializes in royalty, wrote that Aimone and Olga will marry "in a few days" on the isle of Patmos. [fr icon [http://www.gotha-fr.com/3.aspx Le gotha, le site officiel de Stéphane Bern] ]

Marriage

The couple wed, after a three year engagement, on 16 September, 2008 at the Italian embassy in Moscow, the city in which Aimone is employed. Their religious marriage took place on 27 September at Patmos. [ [http://www.monarchia.it/home.html Unione Monarchica Italiana] ] , where it was expected that the Patriarchal Exarch of Patmos, Archimandrite Andipas Nikitaras, would preside at the Church of the Evangelismos of the Virgin Mary at Pano Kambos, with a reception following on the site of a former school.cite web| last = Koenig| first = Marlene| title = Royal Musings| work = Translation of Patmos Times article| publisher = Marlene Koenig| date = 2008-09-28| url = http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2008/09/translation-of-patmos-times-articles.html| accessdate = 2008-09-28] It is not yet known whether a priest of the Roman Catholic Church to which Aimone belongs was present during the ceremony, however since the Second Vatican Council marriages celebrated according to the rite of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, to which the exarchate belongs, may be recognized as canonically valid. [cite book| title = History of the Church: Volume X The Church in the Modern Age| author = Hubert Jedin, Konrad Repgen|chapter: The Code and Development of Canon Law to 1974|publisher = Continuum International Publishing Group| date = 1980| pages = 171| id = ISBN 9780860120902]

Present for the nuptials in Patmos were Queen Sofia of Spain ("née" Princess of Greece and Denmark), former King Constantine II of the Hellenes and his consort Queen Anne Marie ("née" Princess of Denmark), Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy (daughter of the late King Umberto II of Italy), Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark and his wife, Princess Marina of Greece (bride's parents), and Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark. With the exception of 78 year-old Margherita, Archduchess of Austria-Este ("née" Princess of Savoy-Aosta), all members of the Aosta branch of the House of Savoy were in attendance, i.e. Prince Amedeo of Savoy, 5th Duke of Aosta (bridegroom's father) and his consort, Princess Silvia, Duchess of Aosta, Princess Claude d'Orléans (aka "Princess of France", bridegroom's mother), as well as Aimone's two full sisters, Princess Bianca Countess Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga and Princess Mafalda Madame Lombardo di San Chirico, and Maria-Cristina ("née" Princess of Savoy-Aosta) and her husband Prince Casimir of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. [cite web| title = Le nozze tra le LL.AA.RR. il Principe Aimone di Savoia e la Principessa Olga di Grecia| work = Sito Ufficiale della Casa di S.A.R. il Principe Amedeo, Duca di Savoia| url = http://www.realcasadisavoia.org/nozzeaimone.htm| accessdate = 2008-09-28]

Duke of Aosta

On 7 July 2006 Aimone's father Prince Amedeo assumed the headship of the House of Savoy and the title Duke of Savoy claiming that his cousin Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples had lost his dynastic rights when he married without the legally required permission of King Umberto II in 1971. Since then Aimone has used the title Duke of Aosta. [cite web |url=http://www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it/GdM_dallabasilicata_NOTIZIA_01.asp?IDNotizia=162709&IDCategoria=1 |title=Detronizzato Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia in favore del cugino |accessdate=2008-08-19 |publisher=la Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno |date=2006-07-07 ]

Ancestry

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1= 1. Prince Aimone, Duke of Apulia
2= 2. Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta
3= 3. Princess Claude of Orléans
4= 4. Tomislav II of Croatia, 4th Duke of Aosta
5= 5. Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark
6= 6. Henri, Count of Paris
7= 7. Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza
8= 8. Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta
9= 9. Princess Hélène of Orléans
10= 10. Constantine I of Greece
11= 11. Sophia of Prussia
12= 12. Jean d'Orléans, Duke of Guise
13= 13. Princess Isabelle of Orléans
14= 14. Prince Pedro de Alcantara of Orléans-Braganza
15= 15. Countess Elisabeth Dobrzensky de Dobrzenicz
16= 16. Amadeo I of Spain
17= 17. Maria Vittoria del Pozzo della Cisterna
18= 18. Philippe, Count of Paris
19= 19. Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans
20= 20. George I of Greece
21= 21. Olga Constantinovna of Russia
22= 22. Frederick III, German Emperor
23= 23. Victoria, Princess Royal
24= 24. Robert, Duke of Chartres
25= 25. Princess Marie-Francoise of Orléans
26= 26. Philippe, Count of Paris (= 18)
27= 27. Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans (= 19)
28= 28. Gaston, Count of Eu
29= 29. Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil
30= 30. Count Johann Dobrzensky de Dobrzenicz
31= 31. Elisabeth Kottulinsky von Kottulin

Notes

External links

* [http://www.realcasadisavoia.org His father's official website] infobox hrhstyles|left
royal name=Aimone, Duke of Apulia


dipstyle=His Royal Highness
offstyle=Your Royal Highness
altstyle=Sir|