Savoy family to appeal ruling in attempt to reclaim crown jewels after almost 80 years.

A court in Rome on Thursday rejected a legal bid by descendants of Italy's former royal family to reclaim the crown jewels which have been kept in a bank vault since 1946.

The Savoia, or Savoy family, launched their appeal in 2022 to seek the return of the treasures which include tiaras, earrings, brooches and necklaces, studded with 6,732 diamonds and 2,000 pearls.

The civil court ruled on Friday however that the jewels are state property, not personal assets, and as such there were no grounds for them to be returned.

In making the ruling, Judge Mario Tanferna cited the Albertine Statute, the constitution of the Kingdom of Italy which was promulgated in 1848 was replaced by the constitution of the Italian republic in 1948.

According to the statute, the jewels had been given “as an endowment” to the royals for the fulfillment of their functions, and were not personal property.

The court ruled the jewels have belonged to the state since the time of the Albertine Statute, and that they remained state property after the 1946 referendum in which Italians voted to abolish the monarchy in favour of a republic.

The story goes back to 5 June 1946, three days after the landmark referendum which Italy marks each year with Festa della Repubblica.

That day, Italy's prime minister Alcide De Gasperi asked King Umberto II to hand over the crown jewels, kept in a safe in the Quirinale Palace, until then the official residence of the royal family.

Since then the jewels have been kept in a vault at the Bank of Italy, on Via Nazionale in Rome, where they are protected by 11 seals.

There is no official, current valuation of the jewels however it has been estimated that they could fetch up to €300 million if sold at auction.

The Savoy family said it intends to appeal Thursday's ruling and take its battle to the European Court of Human Rights, according to a Facebook post by Emanuele Filiberto, grandson of Italy's last king.

The lawsuit was taken more than three years ago by Emanuele Filiberto's father Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy - who died last year aged 86 - and the late prince's elderly sisters, Princesses Maria Pia, Maria Gabriella and Maria Beatrice.

The elderly former royals are the children of Italy's last king Umberto II who ruled for only 34 days before going into exile in Portugal, never setting foot in Italy again. He died in Geneva, aged 78, in 1983.

Umberto's father, King Victor Emmanuel III, reigned from 1900 until May 1946 when he abdicated in favour of his son after being discredited by his support for Mussolini during world war two. He died in exile in Egypt, aged 78, in 1947.

Emanuele Filiberto, 52, was born and raised in Switzerland. He first set foot on Italian soil in 2002 when an amendment was made to the Italian constitution lifting the ban that had prohibited male descendants of the House of Savoy entering Italy.