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Prince Aimone, spoke about the relationship with his distant cousin Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice and the only male-line grandson of Umberto II, the last King of Italy. The pair, members of two different and feuding branches of the House of Savoy, met in Russia earlier this month.

The cousins headed to Saint Petersburg to attend the imperial wedding of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov, a descendant of the House of Romanov, and Victoria Romanovna Bettarini, the daughter of Italian diplomat Roberto Bettarini.

After being seen together at the first royal nuptials taking place in Russia in a century, Aimone opened up about his relationship with Emanuele Filiberto.

The businessman, who became Duke of Aosta following the death of his father Amedeo in July, told Italian magazine Oggi: “Between me and my cousin Emanuele Filiberto there is a good relationship.”

However, he added, there is “no peace between the two branches of the House of Savoy”, which reigned over Italy between 1861 and 1946, when the country became a republic.

Aimone explained: “There are different layers that should not be confused.

“My cousin and I obviously have very different views when it comes to our family.

“But this doesn’t prevent us from keeping a good relationship on a personal level and be respectful towards a cousin and the people who invited us [to the wedding].”

Probed over the possibility of a peace between the two Savoy branches, he said: “Again, we have different views”.

Aimone has been living in Russia for several years and has been recognised by both Russian and Italian authorities for his contribution to deepening bilateral economic relationship between the countries.

Since 2012, he leads Pirelli Tyre’s Nordic division.

Emanuele Filiberto grew up in exile from Italy in accordance with the country’s Constitution, which barred the male descendants of the last Savoy monarch from entering the Italian Republic’s soil between 1946 and 2003.

Since returning to Italy, he made several appearances on national television.

His father Vittorio Emanuele was recognised by monarchists as the head of the House of Savoy following the death of his own father, former King Umberto II, in 1983.

However, his position was contested in 2006 by Prince Amedeo, who was recognised by members of the Italian Monarchist Union and of the Council of the Senators of the Kingdom – which includes members of the abolished Senate of the Italian Kingdom – as the legitimate head of the Savoy House.

The relationship between the two branches of the House of Savoy worsened in 2019, when Vittorio Emanuele issued a formal decree as the Duke of Savoy which he said replaced male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture for those in the line of succession to the defunct Italian throne.

This move would allow Emanuele Filiberto’s eldest daughter Vittoria to inherit the headship of the Savoy House after his father.

In an interview with the New York Time, Vittoria said earlier this year: “It was the best gift he could give me”.

Vittorio Emanuele’s move was branded “totally illegitimate” by Aimone.

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