In the aftermath of his divorce from Soraya, the Shah was Romantically linked to Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy, a daughter of the deposed Italian king, Umberto II. Pope John XXIII reportedly vetoed the suggestion. In an editorial about the rumors surrounding the marriage of “a Muslim sovereign and a Catholic princess”, the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, considered the match “a grave danger,” especially considering that under the 1917 Code of Canon Law a Roman Catholic who married a divorced person could be excommunicated. Italian Tabloid La Domenica Del Corriere (circa Late 1950’s).
Photo of the Princesse here
