The Duke of Mecklenburg and Duke Michael attended the General Chapter of the Dynastic Orders of the Royal House of Savoy held today in Rome today in the presence of Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Savoy and head of the Royal House of Italy.
During the ceremony the Duke of Savoy appointed the Duke of Mecklenburg a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus and Duke Michael a Grand Officer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.
The Duke of Savoy was in turn granted the Grand Cross with the Crown in Ore of the House Order of the Wendish Crown, while Johannes Theo Niederhauser, Grand Chancellor of Dynastic Orders of the House of Savoy, was appointed a Grand Commander.
Amongst the other royal guests present at the General Chapter of the Dynastic Orders of the Royal House of Savoy were Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, his wife Princess Victoria Romanova Romanoff, the Brazilian prince Pedro of Orléans and Braganza as well as Fra’ John Dunlap the 81st Grand Master of the Order of Malta.
Through her marriage to Crown Prince Danilo of Montenegro, Duchess Jutta (Militza) of Mecklenburg-Strelitz became the sister in law of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy and aunt of King Umberto II, the great grandfather and grandfather respectively of Prince Emanuele Filiberto. The Italian Royal Family provided Duchess Jutta with sanctuary during the Second World War, and she was buried in Rome following her death there in 1946.
Elena of Montenegro, the queen consort of King Vittorio Emanuele III, was the godmother of Archduchess Ilona of Austria, the late mother of the Duke of Mecklenburg. Through Archduchess Ilona the grand ducal family descend from the House of Savoy via Maria Teresa of Savoy, duchess of Parma, the daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele I of Sardinia.
