Victoria of Savoy, great-granddaughter of the last king of Italy, reveals herself and speaks for the first time: "It took me a long time to understand who I am"

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• Leonor and her generation.

  They are stylish princesses, they will be trendy queens

In 'A Child's Jewel',

PG Woodehouse

wrote that at 21, life, "being all future, can be examined with impunity."

Past that age, he noted, "a man should not be awake or out of bed at four in the morning. That hour breeds thoughts."

Victoria de Savoy

has one foot on both sides of the quote, each one in and out of the bed.

Last December

she turned twenty

and in response to what she herself declared three years ago to the press accompanied by her father, she burst out laughing.

When she grew up, she had told The New York Times, she would want

to run her own fashion brand.

Now, in the first solo interview he gives to a media outlet, he laughs: "How young he was."

After the recent

death of her grandfather,

Victor Emmanuel of Savoy,

news headed by Victoria's name sprung up in every crevice of the internet.

The headlines speculated about the princess's future.

They accompanied her name with her professions and titles, they called her

influencer

,

model

,

student

,

activist

.

They speculated, with the few crumbs of information about her life available on the web, about her desires, values, character, and destiny.

Only those around the

great-granddaughter of Umberto II,

the

last king of Italy

, knew what the princess wants to dedicate her days to.

"I think I have discovered it. I always need to learn and do new things, so I would like to experiment in different fields of art."

Occasional model

Fashion

,

in any case, remains close.

She sometimes works as a

model

and attends fashion

shows

for major European and American brands.

In New York, where the photographs that accompany this interview are taken, she has landed to attend the

Michael Kors fashion show as a guest,

a house with which Victoria maintains a

close relationship.

"I am learning a lot about this world. Every experience is very interesting to me. For me,

fashion

is not just about wearing clothes. It is a

form of expression,

a way to transmit your creativity and your personal sense of style. Fashion is a art form and I have always been captivated by the innovation behind each design. I see it as a tool for

creativity

and

self-expression

. It helps me tell who I am."

Victoria de Savoy wears a cardigan, coulotte and top from the Michael Kors Collection.

First, with words.

Yours.

If an entire Spanish family were waiting on the other side of this door, how would they introduce themselves?

"Hello. My name is Victoria, I am 20 years old and I am studying

Business and Art

in

Paris

while I learn

theater

and sometimes work as

a model

. I would like

to be an actress

and open my own

art gallery.

I am always happy, I am hyperactive, I need to learn and try new things constantly. I am very curious,

I love making people laugh

and I have a great time listening to

music

and

dancing

. I am very sociable and I believe that loyalty is essential. I hate arrogant people and I think that simplicity and kindness are very important".

Political science and interpretation

Victoria Cristina Adelaida Clara María,

eldest daughter of the French actress

Clotilde Courau

and

Manuel Filiberto,

eldest son of the recently deceased Victor Emmanuel II, head of the House of Savoy, the last dynasty of the Italian monarchy, outlines her biography.

Her identity, she points out, is not anchored to anything.

"I am who I really want to be."

In Paris, where she lives after having spent time in

London

studying

Political Science, she receives acting lessons first thing in the morning, plays sports and attends

cultural business management

classes

at noon.

In the afternoon, she had more acting classes, notions of clowning included.

During the weekend, he adds, he sees his friends, goes out to parties, goes to museums, the theater and the cinema.

"And I travel whenever I can," she adds.

Now, after passing through

New York Fashion Week,

she plans a getaway to Mexico to get the “work, work, work” off her back.

Lace mini dress with hand-embroidered sequins, from Michael Kors Collection.

Your passport, in any case, will not suffer holes.

Victoria has traveled the world with her parents since she was a child.

He

grew up in Switzerland,

has lived in England, lives in France and "I come back to Italy all the time. My parents have a

house in Umbria

where I really like to spend time. I love Italy: its museums, the architecture, the people, gastronomy. It is a joyful country. I learned to walk there. The first time I swam alone was there. Italy is also my home."

It will not be, she knows, her kingdom.

After a

referendum,

the

royal house

left the Italian peninsula and

settled in Switzerland.

Since 1946, the transalpine country has remained constituted as a republic.

In 2020, however, her grandfather modified the then current

Salic Law.

Victoria,

a princess

by birth, became

heir to dynastic rights,

currently the first in the line of succession.

Is there room today for a return of the monarchy?

"Of course not!".

Given the possibility that Victoria did not want to answer some questions in the interview, perhaps, like the previous one, linked to politics and the monarchy, the question was transformed:

If such a phenomenon exists, how does political correctness affect public discourse? I don't understand why a few questions would damage my image.

If I want to say something, I'll say it.

And if I don't want to respond to something because it seems inappropriate, I won't.

At his age, he explains, "maturity and mistakes! have managed to clear his ideas. What has he done wrong? "I am very

optimistic

and I do not regret anything I have done.

You just have to trust yourself and accept who you are, and it took me a long time to understand who I am.

Now I feel much better about myself.

"I'm still 20 years old and

have a lot to learn."

Atypical parents

Until her grandfather's death, Victoria's father divided his time between appearances on Italian television and his business ventures in the United States.

In his country of origin,

Manuel Filiberto

has participated in programs such as

'Ballando con le stelle'

(dancing with the stars) and has even starred in an advertisement for

Netflix.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the now claimant to the Italian throne founded Prince of Venice, a food truck company specializing in pasta.

Now, he declared to the newspaper 'Corriere della Sera', he wishes to continue the work of

renewing the orders of chivalry

that his father had begun.

Guipure miniskirt and cropped lace shirt, from Michael Kors Collection.

The actress

Clotilde Courau,

wife of the prince and mother of Victoria, continues dedicated to

acting.

From both of them, the twenty-year-old has learned that she must give herself completely to "everything I want to do."

Hard work and self-confidence are the keys to success.

Luckily,

my family is open-minded

and has always supported my decisions.

My parents really trust me.

We have very

good communication.

[...] For me, family is what balances everything.

I have a very good relationship with them, with my mother, my father and my sister, whom I call every day to ask how things have gone in class or how things are going.

I know they will always be there for me.

"I feel very lucky."

Family luck seeks to replicate it in his

professional career.

Victoria goes to

castings

while she refines her technique in the classroom ("I want to be very perfectionist") and, if everything goes as planned, she will soon serve as curator in an exhibition starring young artists.

"I'm going to continue working and studying. I think that at my age you should accept all the opportunities they give you."

Pure Generation Z

Of those who, like her, have just entered their twenties, the model admires "their ambition, their tolerance, their curiosity and desire to do several jobs at the same time. I am very

optimistic

, especially with

respect to my generation.

I have met many people with enthusiasm, whether in fashion, theater or the world of art. With the artistic director

Marina Baho,

for example, I have participated in several photo shoots and they always feature young people. I like to give visibility to

talented young people

It

is very important. But

Generation Z

also has a negative side:

social networks.

They influence us so much in our way of dressing, putting on makeup, thinking and speaking that it is increasingly unusual to be authentic. It is a problem. And "The use of

artificial intelligence

in the arts or the

misinformation

we face are also important. You always have to check your sources."

Direct to them.

Again, therefore, in the first person.

If you opened a newspaper now, what news would catch your attention? I read the newspaper every morning.

I have an application on my phone called Courrier International and, if not, I listen to the news on the radio while I have breakfast.

Right now I am interested in many issues: what is happening between Ukraine and Russia and between Israel and Palestine, what is happening in Afghanistan, the French farmers' protests.

Many, many things. Both millennials and Generation Z have spent most of their lives bouncing between economic crises.

Do you think that has shaped their personalities?

Is there hope for them? Of course there is.

There have always been economic crises, political changes and wars.

We have gone through the coronavirus and confinement.

I think that, for everyone, confinement was very complicated.

I barely remember it, if I'm honest.

It was very difficult for me.

I am a person who needs to see people and be very active.

With confinement it was impossible and very painful.

It confused me for a while, as did many of my friends.

Then came the war in Ukraine and now, in the Middle East.

But in saying all this, I am aware of the war and its consequences and I want to believe that we are a strong generation and that we will overcome this and we will all work together for a better world.

We need to do it.According to a recent survey, in Spain 41% of young men believe that feminism has gone too far.

They think there is now serious discrimination against them.

What do you think about it? It is a very difficult time and, as always, in times of change in history, the tendency is to become very extremist in one way or another.

I think it's about finding balance and really learning to accept ourselves and our differences.

It's not about hating each other, but about being together in a respectful way.

And that they should pay attention to femicide. Given that you have grown up between different countries in Europe, is European society sexist?

Do you feel that sexism is on the rise? European societies vary greatly and, although progress has been made in many areas, sexism still exists to varying degrees across the continent, such as in Poland, which has voted against abortion.

But there are laws and initiatives to promote gender equality, which is one of the objectives of the European Union. How would you like to be remembered? As someone who worked hard to achieve a dream.

The most immediate, if everything has gone as it should, has freed her from the New York snow and the humidity of Paris.

Mexico in spring is a good idea.

STYLING

Ashley Afriyie.

MAKEUP

Richard Ilagan for Charlotte Tilbury.

Erickson Arrunategui

HAIRDRESSER .

PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT

Luis Spínola Miñán.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel.