His Royal Highness Cordially Requests...Your Vote?!
Written by Joanne Leyland
Thursday, 13 March 2008
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It isn’t unknown for royalty to stray into
politics. Now, a bona fide prince
is to run for Parliament. But considering the recent history of his
colourful family, will the blue-blood really be able to persuade the
populace to 'vote for H.R.H?'
The grandson of the last king of Italy has revealed he hopes to be
elected to the country’s Parliament on an agenda which promotes
traditional
values.
Appearing
at a press conference at which he expanded on his wish to move from
inherited to elected power - albeit Prince Emanuele Filiberto's family
have not ruled the country since the monarchy fell in the aftermath of
World War II - King Umberto II's grandson revealed: "I vote on the
centre-right, and if I am elected I will be close to their representatives,
whether they lose or win."
The prince's manifesto, entitled Values and Future, documents his plans to spread a "movement of
opinion" which will advocate the need to build and promote "regional
traditions and the natural culture, the family [and] Christian roots."
Addressing the subject of his royal bloodline, the prince conceded that many
feel "the monarchy should be 'super partes' [beyond parties]."
However, according to Emanuele Filiberto: "...it's 2008 and we cannot keep saying how good it was
before 1946. We have to look to the future without forgetting
the past."
Unfortunately for the prince, the recent past does not make for
happy reading when it comes to relations between the once exiled House
of Savoy, the government and the Italian nation at large.
