Duce plays Cupid for Giovanna and Boris

November 23, 1927

A prominent Bulgarian diplomat, according to the AP, who has recently returned from Rome, says that he expects the engagement of Princess Giovanna, third daughter of King Victor Emanuel, and King Boris III, will be announced before June.
One point "remains to be settled." Princess Giovanna, who is a Roman Catholic, must convert to the Orthodox faith, "which requires the assent, tacit at least, of the Vatican."
The Italian premier Mussolini is very desirous "of establishing a firm link with Bulgaria by a royal marriage in order to offset JugoSlavia's avowed hostility toward Italy." The Vatican also sees opportunity and is "eager to retrieve its lost temporal power" in Bulgaria.
The Italian government has always been "nervous" when Boris visited Belgrade en route to Western Europe. The King has visited Belgrade several times, and Italy fears for a "Serbo-Bulgarian rapprochement." On his last visit to Italy, Boris responded to Mussolini's request to not stop in Belgrade on his way back to Bulgaria. He told the king that the Italians would be pleased if he avoided Jugo-Slavian territory. Boris, accordingly, "made a long detour by traveling through Austria, Hungary, and Roumania."