Royal Profile: Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy

Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy was born 24 February 1940 as the third child of The Prince and Princess of Piedmont who were later King Umberto II & Princess Marie José de Belgique {Source}. She has two older siblings and a younger sister{Source}:

1. Princess Maria Pia Elena Elisabetta Margherita Milena Mafalda Ludovica Tecla Gennara of Bourbon-Parma (1934)
1. Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (m 1955)
1. Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia (1958)
2. Prince Michael of Yugoslavia (1958)
3. Prince Sergius Wladimir Emanuel Marie of Yugoslavia (1963)
4. Princess Helene Olga Lydia Tamara Maria of Yugoslavia (1963)
1. Thierry Gaubert (m. 1988)
1. Milena Maria-Pia Angelique Armaule Gaubert (1988)
2. Nastasia Marie José Tania Vanessa Isabelle Gaubert (1991)
3. Leopold Umberto Armand Michel Gaubert (1997)
2. Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples (1937)
1. Marina, Princess of Naples (1935, m. 1971)
1. Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice (1972)
1. Clotilde, Princess of Venice (1972)
1. Princess Vittoria of Savoy (2003)
2. Princess Luisa of Savoy (2006)
3. two adopted sons
3. Princess Maria Beatrice Caroline of Savoy (1943)
1. Luis Rafael Reyna-Corvalán y Dillon(1939-1999, m. 1970)
1. Rafael Humberto Lupo Corvalán-Reyna y de Saboya (1970-1994)
1. Margaret Beatty Tyler (1966, engaged, never married)
1. Uriel Tyler (1994)
2. Patrizio Corvalán-Reyna y de Saboya (1971-1971)
3. Azaea Beatrice Corvalán-Reyna y de Saboya (1973)
1. Arturo Pando y Mundet (1973, m. 1996, div)
1. Marie José Pando y Corvalán-Reyna (1996)

In 1943, she moved to Switzerland with her mother and siblings to avoid Nazi capture. In 1945, they returned to Italy. Upon the fall of the monarchy in 1946, her family gathered in Portugal then she fled with her mother and siblings to Switzerland again.

The young Princess was educated in Switzerland, and took courses at a school associated with the Lovre in Paris {Source}. After her father died in 1983, with the approval of her brother, she launched the King Umberto II Foundation in Switzerland, which is dedicated to preservation of the Royal House and its history. She participated in several cultural exhibits during the 1992 Olympics in Albertville. She has also co-authored several books on her family history and history of the House of Savoy.

Princess Maria Gabriella married Robert Zellinger de Balkany (1931-2015, m. 1969-1990, div) on 12 February 1969 {Source}. They have one daughter, a son-in-law, and four grandchildren:

1. Marie Elisabeth Zellinger de Balkany (1972)
1. Olivier Janssens (m. 2002)
1. Gabriella Luise Maria Janssens (2004)
2. Tommaso Janssens (2005)
3. Paul-Louis Janssens ( 2009)
4. Victor Janssens (2014)