Prince Emanuele Filiberto Wins TV Dancing Competition

Yesterday prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, prince of Venice, won the television competition ‘Ballando Con Le Stelle, the Italian edition of ‘Dancing with the Stars’. The prince is the grand son of the last king of Italy and will succeed his father as (contested) head of the Italian royal family eventually.

The prince and his dance teachter Natalia Titova, won the competition with 75 percent of the popular vote (1 million phone calls in his favor) giving state-run RAI TV a 60 percent audience share last night. The prince was however honest about his dancing skills and said that he wasn’t the best participant in the show. The Italian public obviously thought differently and he captured their hearts, defeating younger stars Andrea Montovolo and Ola Karieva. After the competition was over the prince had the cup broken up into 24 pieces, and gave each participant a piece on which they wrote their name.

The prince decided to take part in the talent show so that the Italians might better get to know him better: “I want to prove that I know how to start from scratch, that I am able to work hard”. Since he started with the programme in January hardly a week has passed without the prince appearing in the Italian (boulevard) press, and this time only with positive stories. He even congratulated the rivaling heir to the Italian throne, prince Aimone of Savoy-Aosta with the birth of his son Umberto.

Click here to see more pictures at ‘La Stampa’.

Filed under Italy
Tagged House of Savoy, Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Television.