Umberto II of Italy Umberto II of Italy Umberto II (; 15 September 190418 March 1983) was the last King of Italy. He reigned for 34 days, from 9 May 1946 to 12 June 1946, although he had been "de facto" head of state since 1944, and was nicknamed the May King (). Umberto was the only son of the five children of King Victor Emmanuel III and Queen Elena. In an effort to repair the monarchy's image after the fall of Benito Mussolini's regime, Victor Emmanuel transferred his powers to Umberto in 1944 while retaining the title of king. As a referendum was
The King and Country debate the University of Toronto and the University of Cape Town all passed motions affirming that they would fight for King and Country. Three weeks after it was passed, Randolph Churchill proposed a resolution at the Oxford Union to delete the "King and Country" motion from the Union's records but was defeated by 750 votes to 138, in a rowdy debate, where Churchill was met by a barrage of hisses and stink bombs. A bodyguard of Oxford Conservatives and police escorted Churchill back to his hotel, after the debate. Charles Kimber, who would later lead the peace group Federal Union, was