Queen Paola´s Family (Ruffo di Calabria)

[Marengo]

I thought it could be interesting to open a thread where we can discuss Queen Paola´s brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, parents, anscestors etc.

I remember her eldest sister Maria Christina, Marchesa de San Germano at the wedding of Phillipe, all in furs and pearls, sadly I can not find a picture but it looked terribly chique.

[stephanievl]

Paola's father is Prince Don Fulco Ruffo di Calabria, 6th Duke of Guardia Lombarda (1884-1946) and her mother is the former Countess Luisa Gazelli di Rossana e di Sebastiano (1896-1989)

Queen Paola is the youngest of 7 childern:

Maria Cristina Ruffo di Calabria (1920-2003)
Laura Ruffo di Calabria(1921-1972)
Fabrizio Ruffo di Calabria (6-12-1922 + 11-10-2005),
Augusto Ruffo di Calabria (1925 -1943), died during the seabattle of Pescara. They never found his body.
Giovannella Ruffo di Calabria(1927-1941), died because of a food poisoning
Antonello Ruffo di Calabria 1930
Paola Ruffo di Calabria 1937

Some pictures of her father
Supload.com // Free Image Hosting
Supload.com // Free Image Hosting

[UserDane]

Originally Posted by Marengo

I thought it could be interesting to open a thread where we can discuss Queen Paola´s brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, parents, anscestors etc.

I remember her eldest sister Maria Christina, Marchesa de San Germano at the wedding of Phillipe, all in furs and pearls, sadly I can not find a picture but it looked terribly chique.

Thanks for starting this thread Marengo I was wondering about Paola's family in another thread. Would love to pictures of her parents and brothers and sisters.

[magnik]

About Paola's Ruffo di Calabria family tree:
- Ruffo
- Vincenzo Ruffo

[Marengo]

Originally Posted by UserDane

Thanks for starting this thread Marengo I was wondering about Paola's family in another thread. Would love to pictures of her parents and brothers and sisters.

It was actually after reading your post that I got this idea .

Here an engagementpicture of Paola and Albert. Paola´s mother, Princess Luisa is there too, 3rd on the left.

[Henri M.]

Originally Posted by Marengo

It was actually after reading your post that I got this idea .

Here an engagementpicture of Paola and Albert. Paola´s mother, Princess Luisa is there too, 3rd on the left.

Who are the folks? Let me try, from the left to the right:

The King
The Princess de Réthy
Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium
Princess Marie-Esmeralda of Belgium
Donna Luisa, the Dowager Duchess of Guardia Lombarda
King Léopold III
Donna Paola dei Principi Ruffo di Calabria
The Prince of Liège
Prince Alexander of Belgium

Am I correct?

[Marengo]

Here an article dedicated to Paola's father, Don Fulco. It is from a who is who website concerning WWI.

According to the caption this is a picture of Don Augusto Ruffo di Calabria, nephew of HM The Queen and a son of her eldest brother Don Fabrizio. Don Augusto has married a Princess zu Windisch-Graetz btw.

--

I believe you are right in the identification henri, though I always forget if Esmeralda or Marie-Christine is the older one.

[Marengo]

This article mentions something about a Fulco Ruffo di Calabria but I don t understand Italian. To hope that the guy is Don Fulco would be too much sadly, as the only Fulco in Paola's family is 53.

La puntata di stasera, come prevedibile, è cominciata con il saluto affettuoso della conduttrice a Fulco Ruffo di Calabria, costretto al ritiro per la morte del padre.
Toccanti le immagini del principe

[UserDane]

Does anyone have pictures of Paola's sisters when they were young - or even her mother as a young girl?
Paola's father was quite handsome judging from the pictures posted here.

[Helena]

One of her brothers died in WWII, right? On what side did he fall? Fighting with the Italians against the allies or later fighting with the Italians and Allies against the Germans?

[paola]

Originally Posted by Helena

One of her brothers died in WWII, right? On what side did he fall? Fighting with the Italians against the allies or later fighting with the Italians and Allies against the Germans?

He was fighting with the allies. As said here before by stephanievl, during the seabattle of Pescara. They never found his body.
The family of Queen Paola resisted the regime of Mussolini.
Queen Paola was just a little girl at that time, but it was an impressive event for her, she hinted at a statevisit to Italy in 1998.

[Helena]

Thank you for the awnser. Nice to know that the family didn´t support the fascist regime!

[Marengo]

The Coat of Arms of the Ruffo di Calabria family, free of copyrights:

[Marengo]

Do ¨people have any idea how the Queen is related to Melba Ruffo di Calabria? She seems to be a television personality in Italy, a picture here.

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Do ¨people have any idea how the Queen is related to Melba Ruffo di Calabria? She seems to be a television personality in Italy, a picture here.

Melba was married to the queen's nephew Fulco, but they are divorced now, I think.

[Marengo]

Ah, and Fulco is a public figure too? On television etc? I think I saw him pop up in several articles (one about the Italian Big Brother I believe), but as I don't understand a thing about Italian I have no idea what the article said.

[Marchesina]

Originally Posted by Marengo

This article mentions something about a Fulco Ruffo di Calabria but I don t understand Italian. To hope that the guy is Don Fulco would be too much sadly, as the only Fulco in Paola's family is 53.

The guy in the photos isn't Fulco. Fulco is older. He was married with Melba, who was an annoucer on tv, but they divorced many years ago. The article talks about the backing down of Fulco from the italian version of "Survivors" after his father death, Queen Paola's brother.
I'm italian but I'm to be sincere.in italy this family isn't very famous,so I don't know any others members of the Ruffo's.

[Donna Mia]

Originally Posted by Marengo

The Coat of Arms of the Ruffo di Calabria family, free of copyrights:

There are a few variations of the Ruffo arms according to branches. I am listing them below for others:

1) Scilla branch: like the arms above.
2) Palazzolo branch: like the arms above.
3) Guardialombarda branch: like the arms above.
4) S. Antimo branch : like the arms above, but minus the sea shells.
5) Bagnara branch: like the arms above, but minus the sea shells.
6) Scaletta branch: like the arms above, but minus the sea shells.
7) Floresta branch: like the Scaletta branch, but completely surrounding the edge of the shield is a band of black and white checkerboard.

[MAfan]

I was wondering if anyone knows something about the relations between Queen Paola and his siblings, in particular with her late brother Fabrizio; I wonder because I remember to have read in an old newspaper article on the marriage of Paola's nephew Alessandro to Princess Mafalda of Savoy in 1994, and it said that Queen Paola didn't attend the wedding because the groom's parents (Prince Fabrizio and his former wife Maria) were divorced. Did this divorce influence so much Paola's relations with her brother, or was it just a sort of diplomatic matter perhaps, due to Paola is the Catholic Queen of the Belgians (and Catholic Church doesn't recognize divorce)?

[Marengo]

I know nothing about it, but i cant believe it would be considered a faux pas in Belgium if the Queen did attend a wedding of a divorced person. In fact, i imagine that public opinion would find it rather odd if she did NOT attend a wedding for that reason. It was probably just a clash of agena's. The queen seems to be pretty close to her Italian relatives. I remember seeing a documentary 'the voice of the queen', where the queen was in Rome for some public function and insisted that a niece (don't know which one) stayed on her side during the official part too. And several cousins of the Queen also spoke warmly about her n the documentary. Added to that, I believe a lot of Italian relatives attended the wedding f Philippe, nd the nice pearl earrings that princess Claire wore at her wedding were a gift from the Ruffo's too.