KING OF ITALY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 87, 13 April 1944, Page 5

KING OF ITALY

DECISION TO RESIGN POWER TO CROWN PRINCE (By Telegraph—Press Associati.u—Copyright.) Rec. 10.50 a.m. LONDON, April 12. King Victor Emmanuel has announced his decision to hand over his powers to the Crown Prince Umbeito on the day the Allies enter Rome. In a broadcast to the Italian people from Naples, King Victor said: "I have decided to withdraw from public affairs by appointing my son lieutenant-general of the realm. This decision, which I believe will further national unity, is final and irrevocable."

After saying that the Italians knew he had always been at their v side in

difficult as well as happy times, King Victor added: "Italians know that eight months ago I put an end to the Fascist regime and brought Italy, notwithstanding every danger and risk, to the side of the United Nations in the struggle for liberation against Nazism."

A spokesman for the Italian Government at Naples said that King Victor's declaration was a spontaneous announcement. "The King decided to make the statement at this time," he said, "to eliminate any obstacle to the efforts by the various

parties to reach full co-operation with the Italian Government."

There is no suggestion of King Victor abdicating. It appears that a lieutenant-generalship is equivalent to a regency. It is understood that the Liberals and the' Communists are satisfied with this as a temporary compromise. ALLIED APPROVAL. The Naples correspondent of "The Times" reveals that last Monday King Victor received Mr. Harold Macmillan, British Minister in North Africa, Mr. Charles Murphy, and Lieut.-Colonel Mason-MacFarlane, Allied Control Commissioner in Italy, at his residence. It is understood that the King took the opportunity to discuss his decision and to ask the British and American representatives whether the Allies have any objection. He was told "No." However, both Mr. Macmillan and Mr. Murphy at a Press talk today emphasised that this development is entirely an Italian affair and represented an approximation of the viewpoints of the King and the democratic parties, which the Allied Powers regarded with optimism and approval.

Renter's Naples correspondent says that Allied spokesmen are hopeful that the party leaders will accept the King's decision as a sufficiently important concession to justify their entering a Government under Marshal Badoglio.

Mr. Murphy, when asked about the King's motive in delaying his retirement until Rome was reached, suggested that he left Rome in a hurry in the small hours without consulting anybody, and felt that he should reappear in Rome as the reigning King in the interests of monarchial dignity; also that his immediate retirement might be deemed by some to be desertion.

King Victor Emmanuel 111 is 75 years of age, and has been on the Throne since 1900. Small in stature and retiring in disposition, he was really no opponent for such an assertive individual as Mussolini, but nevertheless he remained something of a force in Italian politics. In recent years there has been a growing movement among Italians for Victor Emmanuel's abdication, and latterly the anti-Fascist parties opposed the idea of Crown Prince Umberto succeeding and advocated a regency on behalf of his six-year-old son, the Prince of Naples. More recently, hovv^ ever, a junta of parties favoured the immediate delegation of the King's powers to Prince Umberto. Prince Umberto is 40 years of ago and was married 14 years ago to Princess Jose, daughter of the late King Albert of the Belgians.