King Boris and Giovanna visit his relatives

October 21, 1930

King Boris III of the Bulgaria and his fiancee, Princess Giovanna of Italy, accompanied by her father, King Vittorio Emanuele, Princess Maria of Italy and Princess Eudoxia of Bulgaria, drove today to Capazenno to visit Boris' maternal relatives. His mother was Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma, whose family own a villa in Capazenno. The king introduced his future wife to several aunts, uncles and cousins.

The king's only brother, Prince Kyril has left Bulgaria and is en route to Italy to attend the wedding. The official Bulgarian delegation is expected to leave Italy tomorrow.

It has also been announced that Boris and Giovanna will now be married in the upper church at Assisi, rather than the lower church. There are also grumblings to be heard in Bulgaria regarding the Roman Catholic marriage. The Bulgarians want to see their king married in an Orthodox ceremony. It has been suggested that Boris capitulated to the Vatican when he agreed that his children will be raised in the Roman Catholic faith. The Bulgarian constitution states that the king must be Orthodox, but says nothing about the religion of the king's children. Many fear that the a Crown Prince will be raised as a Roman Catholic, and force a change to the Constitution regarding religion when he acedes to the throne.
King Boris III has received a long letter from Patriarch Stephan of Sofia who set out the conditions for an Orthodox blessing for the marriage.