Margherita of Savoy

Margherita of Savoy
Queen of Italy
Titles	HM Queen Margherita of Italy (1900-1926) HM The Queen of Italy (1878-1900) HRH The Crown Princess of Italy (1868-1878) HRH Princess Margherita of Savoy (1851-1868)
Born	November 20 1851(1851-11-20)
	Turin
Died	January 4 1926 (aged 74)
	Bordighera
Buried	Pantheon, Rome
Consort	January 9, 1878 - July 29, 1900
Consort to	Umberto I
Issue	Victor Emmanuel III
Royal House	House of Savoy
Father	Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa
Mother	Elizabeth of Saxony

Margherita or Margaret of Savoy (born November 20, 1851 in Turin, died January 4, 1926 in Bordighera), was the Queen consort of the Kingdom of Italy during the reign (1878-1900) of her husband, Humbert I.

Family

She was a daughter of Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa and Elizabeth of Saxony. Her paternal grandparents were Charles Albert of Sardinia and Maria Theresa of Austria and Tuscany. Her maternal grandparents were John of Saxony and Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria. Maria Theresa was a daughter of Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Princess Luisa Maria Amelia Teresa of the Two Sicilies. Amalie Auguste was a daughter of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Caroline of Baden. Luisa Maria was a daughter of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Marie Caroline of Austria. Ferdinand was the first ruler of the Two Sicilies.

Marriage and child

She married her first cousin Humbert (Umberto) on April 21, 1868. On November 11, 1869, Margherita gave birth to Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples, afterwards Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. He was their only child.

Queen consort

On January 9, 1878, Humbert succeeded as the new King of Italy. She became his Queen consort and remained by his side for the rest of his reign. Humbert was assassinated by anarchist Gaetano Bresci on July 29, 1900. Margherita encouraged artists and writers and founded cultural institutions, notably the Società del Quartetto, and the Casa di Dante. She was a benefactor of many charities, especially the Red Cross. In 1889 the pizza Margherita was named after her. It is the colors of the Italian flag. Red sauce, green basil and white cheese. Her name means "daisy" in Italian. Margherita Peak, the highest point of Mount Stanley, the third highest mountain in Africa, is named after her. On 18 August 1893, in the company of various guides, Alpini, and ladies in waiting, she climbed the Punta Gnifetti (or Signalkuppe), a peak of the Monte Rosa massif on the Swiss-Italian border, for the inauguration of the mountain hut named after her. At 4,554 metres the Capanna Regina Margherita remains the highest hut in Europe. Politically she leant towards Fascism—in October 1922 the quadrumvirs (Emilio De Bono, Italo Balbo, Michele Bianchi and Cesare Maria de Vecchi) visited her at Bordighera to pay their respects prior to the March on Rome.