Is Italy to get its monarchy back

A. No. But Prince Victor Emmanuel of Savoy, exiled heir to the Italian throne, hopes to return soon - after being banished for more than half a century.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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Q. Why was he banned

A. When Italians voted for a republic in a 1946 referendum, the Savoy family - who had ruled Italy since it was unified in 1860 - were prevented from returning by law. In fact, a revised constitution bans male members of the House of Savoy from setting foot on Italian soil.

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Q. Phew! Why are they so unpopular

A. They're not - now. Opinion polls show that almost 80% of Italians favour the return of the Savoys, but a bill to change the constitution, has been stuck in parliamentary procedure for four years. However, at the end of the war the family was still hated for capitulating to fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in the 1920s.

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Q. Let's hear a bit more about the Savoys, then.

A. Okey dokey. Victor Emmanuel III, born 1869, came to the throne when his father Umberto I was assassinated at Monza in 1900. After a series of riots in 1922, the king appointed Benito Mussolini as prime minister in an attempt to prevent a communist revolution. Mussolini headed a coalition of fascists and nationalists and parliamentary government continued until the murder of the socialist leader, Giacomo Matteotti, in 1924.

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Q. Then Mussolini started dictating

A. Oh yes. Mussolini helped create Victor Emmanuel Emperor of Ethiopia (1936) and King of Albania (1939). The king also approved Mussolini's racial laws that barred Jews from attending school, having teaching posts or joining the armed forces. As the Allies prepared to invade Italy in July, 1943, the king forced Mussolini to resign.

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Q.� Then what happened

A.� Victor Emmanuel withdrew from private life and hoped that the Italian people would accept his son, Umberto, as the new king. He abdicated in May, 1946 -- but his son was rejected in the referendum and Italy became a republic. Victor Emmanuel III died in exile in Egypt in 1947. Mussolini was strung up on a lamppost.

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Q.� So what about the current Prince Victor Emmanuel

A.� He's confident of returning. He said: 'I'll be back within a year, and it's about time. We must be the last citizens of the European Union who aren't allowed to move around freely.' He has political support - the centre-right coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi.

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Q.� So there seems widespread support

A.� Not entirely. Critics say Prince Victor Emmanuel has himself to blame for his enduring exile. He once said Mussolini's racial laws were 'not so terrible' - although he later backtracked, calling his comments a grave error. The prince, now 64, spent some time in Portugal before moving to Switzerland. He then lived in America, where he worked as a welder, then as a broker on Wall Street. Asked about the racial laws last week, he said: 'My grandfather was forced to approve them ... there was no choice. The important thing is that we can't be held to account for that, and most Italians realise that today and want us back.' That remains to be seen.

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By Steve Cunningham