8 Facts About Margherita of Savoy, Italy's Queen of Pearls

King Umberto and Queen Margherita of Italy. Image source: Wikimedia Commons/Internet Archive Book Images.

Margherita Maria Teresa Giovanna of Savoy was born on November 20, 1851 at the Palazzo Chiablese in Turin. She was the only daughter of Prince Ferdinando of Savoy, 1st Duke of Genoa, and his wife, Princess Elisabeth of Saxony. Her father died when she was just four years old. Less than a year after Prince Ferdinand’s passing, Princess Elisabeth secretly married her chamberlain, Major Nicholas Rapallo, causing a great scandal that caused her and her new husband to be sent into exile by the infuriated King Vittorio Emanuele II. Elisabeth was separated from her children for a time, but she was allowed to return to the court not long after. Later, as Princess of Piedmont and Queen of Italy, Margherita proved to be a beloved consort to the point that she eclipsed her husband's popularity. Her fondness for jewelry, especially pearls, which she donned when posing for portraits, earned her the moniker "Queen of Pearls."

Here are facts about Queen Margherita of Italy:

1. She almost became Queen of Romania

She was expected to marry the future King Carol I of Romania, however she ended up tying the knot with her cousin and heir to the Italian throne, Umberto, Prince of Piedmont, after royal council president L.F. Menabrea encouraged King Vittorio Emanuele II to arrange a marriage between the two. The union produced one child, Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, who would later become King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy.

2. She almost did not become Queen of Italy

 Margherita was not the first choice to become Umberto’s wife. The then-prince was originally arranged to marry Mathilde of Austria as King Vittorio Emanuele II wanted to solidify the ties between Italy and Austria. The archduchess, however, unexpectedly died after her dress caught fire.

3. She endured her husband's infidelity

 Two years after their wedding, the couple ended their marital relations as Umberto was deeply involved with Eugenia Attendolo Bolognini, Duchess of Litta, with whom the future king of Italy had an affair even before marrying Margherita, and whom he considered as the love of his life. They never made their separation public and continuously worked as colleagues.

4. She was a popular royal consort

Although a member of the House of Savoy by birth, as Umberto's wife, Margherita was well-loved by the Italian people and even when she was abroad. 

According to the Crown Princess of Prussia, she was "certainly lovely and fascinating" and "a very charming and graceful creature. So amiable."  When she and Umberto visited the Netherlands, her appeal attracted the people that Queen Sophie of the Netherlands wrote: "The Prince and Princess Royal of Italy are here. She is a lovely child, white, small, delicate, graceful - he is a brute and it is impossible not to feel pity for that young and naive creature. Just now her dresses, her jewels, the release from governess and schoolroom make her happy. Lovely as she is, he seems to have no admiration for her..."

5. She was a fascist.

 Even as a crown princess, Margherita, a fascist, worked extremely hard to safeguard the monarchy from socialists and republicans, gathering conservative artists and intellectuals collectively called Circolo della Regina or Circle of the Queen in her widely known literary salon, Giovedi della Regina or Queen’s Thursdays. She also put up a number of cultural institutions including Casa di Dante and Società del Quartetto.

6. She was a mountaineer

A dedicated mountaineer, Margherita became the first woman to reach Punta Gnifetti, Monte Rosa’s highest peak.

7. She is best-known today as "The Queen of Pearls"

Margherita acquired a massive jewelry collection. Her penchant for buying pearls, which she lavishly worse, earned  her the nickname "Queen of Pearls."

8. A pizza was named in her honor

 On a trip to Naples, the queen asked for something different other than the usual French cuisines served on her dinner table. The pizza-maker willingly made three versions and served them to the queen. She did not like the first two (pizza Napoli and pizza Marinara) but was completely smitten by the third one. A royal seal was given to that pizza, which, today is the popular Pizza Margherita.

Queen Margherita became widowed on July 29 1900 after King Umberto I was killed by anarchist Gaetano Bresci while on a trip to the city of Monza, that after surviving two attempted assassinations from two other anarchists Pietro Acciarito and Giovanni Passannante. She may have taken a step back as queen dowager and had her daughter-in-law, Elena, take over her duties, but she remained a significant public figure, making official visits to churches and hospitals. The 74-year-old Queen Mother Margherita died on January 4, 1926 in her own villa, Villa Margherita, in Bordighera. She was buried right beside her husband in the royal vault at Rome’s The Pantheon.