Kingdom of Croatia – House of Savoy

On 18 May 1941, a ceremony took place at the Quirinal Palace where Ante Pavelić, the leader of the fascist Ustaše movement that had assumed power in Croatia in April 1941 after the invasion of Yugoslavia, led a delegation of Croats requesting that Italy’s King Victor Emmanuel III name a member of the House of Savoy, Kingof Croatia. The Independent State of Croatia was a state that was partly under Italian and German control, covering most of present-day states of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but its leaders tried to assert their legitimacy by instating a monarchy that would resemble the medieval Croatian state.

Prince Aimone of Savoy-Aosta, Duke of Aosta (given names: Aimone Roberto Margherita Maria Giuseppe Torino; 9 March 1900 – 29 January 1948) was anItalian prince from the House of Savoy and an officer of the Royal Italian Navy. As the second son of Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta he was granted the title Duke of Spoleto on 22 September 1904. Emanuele Filiberto died on 4 July 1931, and Prince Aimone’s older brother Amedeo became the Duke of Aosta, but after the latter’s untimely death during World War II in Nairobi, Prince Aimone assumed the title on 3 March 1942.

Aimone was officially named King by his cousin Victor Emmanuel III. On assuming the Crown of Zvonimir he took the regnal name Tomislav II in memory of Tomislav, the first Croatian king. Originally on learning that he had been named King of Croatia, His full title was “King of Croatia, Prince of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Voivode of Dalmatia, Tuzla and Knin”.

He was due to be crowned in Duvno (Tomislavgrad), in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, but he refused to go to Croatia due to the “Dalmatian question” which arose due to Italy taking some of Dalmatia’s coastal territory. Aimone felt that Dalmatia “was a land that could never be Italianized” and was an obstacle to Italian-Croatian reconciliation. Other reasons why he never went to Croatia were because of an ongoing insurgency, and that his safety could not be guaranteed. Because of this he exercised what little power he had from Italy and Hungary, however he never held any real authority throughout his reign as the Ustaše government had deprived the monarchy of most powers and reduced the status of the king to that of a figurehead. In spite of this he did have some symbolic powers such as the ability to grant noble titles. Baron Gyula István Cseszneky de Milvány et Cseszneg was the counselor to the King for Croatian affairs. Prince Aimone also established a Croatian office in Rome where he received confidential reports, official documents, and military, political and economic information from Croatia.

Following the dismissal of Mussolini on 25 July 1943, the Prince abdicated on 31 July on the orders of Victor Emmanuel III. With the Italian capitulation on 8 September, he formally renounced on October 12 his rights to the title. This happened shortly after the birth of his son Amedeo (born 27 September 1943) who received Zvonimir as one of his given names.

In the late months of World War II, he became the commander of the Italian Naval Base of Taranto but he was dismissed from his post for his criticism of the judges that had found General Mario Roatta guilty. During his naval career he reached the rank of Squadron Admiral. In 1947 following the birth of the Italian Republic the previous year, Prince Aimone left Italy for South America. He died early the next year on 29 January 1948 in his hotel room in Buenos Aires. His son Prince Amedeo succeeded him as Duke of Aosta.

The Genealogy of The Royal House

• TOMISLAV II, Aimone Roberto Margherita Maria Giuseppe Torino, Duke of Aosta, designated, King Tomislav II of Croatia 1941-1943, but never reigned (Turin 9 Mar 1900-Buenos Aires 29 Jan 1948); m. Florence 1 Jul 1939 Irene Pss of Greece and Denmark (Athens 13 Feb 1904-Fiesole 15 Apr 1974)
• ZVONIMIR II, Amedeo Umberto Constantino Giorgio Paolo Elena
• Maria Fiorenzo Zvonimir, Duke of Aosta, de jure King of Croatia,
• (b. Florence 27 Sep 1943); m.1st Sintra, Portugal 22 Jul
• 1964 (div 1982) Pss Claude d’Orléans (b.11 Dec 1943); m.2d
• Bagheria, Sicily 30 Mar 1987 Marchesa Silvia Paterno di
• Spedalotto (b. Palermo 31 Dec 1953)
• Bianca Irene Olga Elena Isabella Fiorenza Maria
• (b. Florence 2 Apr 1966); m. San Giustino Valdarno
• 11 Sep 1988 Cte Gilberto Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga
• (b. Rome 5 Jul 1961)
• Viola Moreschina Nuschi Adec Nicoletta Maria
• Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga, b. Rome 31 May 1991
• Vera Clementina Verde Aimone Elena Maria Arrivabene
• Valenti Gonzaga, b. Samedan, Switzerland 18 Aug 1993
• Mafalda Violante Giovanna Olga Maria Valenti
• Gonzaga, b. Conegliano Veneto 27 Dec 1997
• Maddalena Smeralda Brandolina Maria
• Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga, b.24 Apr 2000
• Leonardo Amedeo Moreschino Sai Maria Arrivabene
• Valenti Gonzaga, b. Conegliano 5 Oct 2001

• Aimone Umberto Emanuele Filiberto Luigi Amedeo Elena
• Maria Fiorenzo, Duke of Apulia, de jure Crown Prince
• of Croatia, (b. Florence 13 Oct 1967)
• Mafalda Giovanna Shams Maria Fiorenza Isabella
• (b. Florence 20 Sep 1969); m.1st San Giustino Valdarno,
• Tuscany 18 Sep 1994 (div) Alessandro Ruffo di Calabria
• (b. Turin 4 Nov 1964); m.2d London 27 Apr 2001 Nobile
• Francesco Ferrante Carlo Napoleone Lombardo di San
• Chirico (b. Milan 31 Jan 1968)
• Nobile Anna Egizia Maria Carla Chiara Benedetta
• Lombardo di San Chirico, b. Milan 11 Apr 1999
• Nobile Carlo Ferrante Gennaro Antonio Francesco
• Lombardo di San Chirico, b. Milan 28 Jan 2001
• Nobile Elena Maria Carlotta Claude Silvia Stefania
• Vittoria Lombardo di San Chirico, b. Milan 10 Mar 2003
• Vittorio Emanuele Torino Giovanni Maria,
• Ct of Turin (Turin 24 Nov 1870-Brussels 16 Oct 1946)