Marie José of Belgium Claretta Petacci, claimed in her diary that in 1937 the then princess and wife of the heir to the throne tried and failed to seduce the dictator at a beach resort near Rome. However, Mussolini's son, Romano, claims that the princess and dictator entered into a sexual relationship. In 1943, the Crown Princess involved herself in vain attempts to arrange a separate peace treaty between Italy and the United States; her interlocutor from the Vatican was Monsignor Giovanni Battista Montini, a senior diplomat who later became Pope Paul VI. Her attempts were not sponsored by the king and Umberto was
Dictator perpetuo Dictator perpetuo Dictator perpetuo (English: "dictator in perpetuity"), also called dictator in perpetuum, was the office held by Julius Caesar from 26 January or 15 February of the year 44 BCE until his death on 15 March. By abandoning the time restrictions usually applied in the case of the Roman "dictatura", it elevated Caesar's dictatorship into the monarchical sphere. Julius Caesar held the dictator position for only eleven days in 49 BCE (holding elections either as "dictator Comit. habend." or as "dictator rei gerundae causa") and again for the year 48/47 BCE. In 46 BCE, he was elected dictator for