Tuesday, December 3, 2013

The "Royal Morgue Of Europe" According To LIFE Magazine


King Umberto II of Italy lived for 37 years in this house facing the Atlantic. He came to Portugal during WWII and was never allowed to return to his country. He died in 1983 and the house is now part of the complex of the Grande Real Villa Italia Hotel.
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LIFE Magazine, 1951:


20 comments:

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Goodness that's interesting JM.. I would imagine the seating arrangement at a banquet could be a bit of a nightmare for the host :)

Sharon said...

What an interesting bit of history. He was exiled to a lovely house.

Mersad said...

A very interesting post. Thanks for sharing. The hotel nowadays looks so good. Love the big balcony.

Mersad
Mersad Donko Photography

Anonymous said...

Such a misleading title for such a magnificent building!

TexWisGirl said...

i'd not want to be known for that, but it is beautiful!

VP said...

I have seen worse dwelling for exiled people...

Sylvia K said...

I do agree with the others, JM, it is a fascinating post and history! Your captures are superb as always and, as always, I wish you a wonderful week!

Louis la Vache said...

hee hee... King Umberto was "just dying" to get out of there!

«Louis» is glad you liked his Gearhead Tuesday post. Next week the subject will be a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. He recently completed a series on Packard.

Leovi said...

Wonderful photos! Really lovely villa!

orvokki said...

Lovely "little" villa.

cieldequimper said...

That's incredible...

diane b said...

Not a bad place to be exiled to.

Kay said...

Great post! So the exiled royalty confirms you're leaving in a perfect corner of the world!

RedPat said...

I wouldn't mind being exiled there!

Anonymous said...

beautiful houses!!! very well captured.
greetings

Sami said...

Didn't know so many members of royalty had did in Portugal. It's a lovely hotel now!

Stefan Jansson said...

A bit of European history.

Anonymous said...

Much grief and anger must have been hidden behind those royal walls!

Randy said...

That's huge.

Dina said...

Oi, the "royal morgue." Such an interesting piece of history.