The prettiest girl in Italy is ...

November 3, 1959

The prettiest girl in Italy is not Sophia Loren nor Gina Lollabrigida. Not even close, reports United Press International. A "recent letter poll" by an Italian magazine put 19-year-old Princess Maria Gabriella of Italy, the daughter of the exiled King Umberto, in the top spot as "piu bella," which means prettiest.
The princess has been linked with the Shah of Iran, whose former wife, Soraya, lives in Rome, and Don Juan Carlos of Spain, "the likeliest choice to become king of Spain if that country ever returns to the monarchy."
Maria Gabriella's elder sister, Maria Pia, is married to Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia.
Despite the fact that Maria Gabriella rarely visits Italy, and spends more time with her father at his home in Portugal, she "constantly fills the pages of Italian magazines."
When it was reported -- and later denied -- that she might become engaged to the Shah of Iran, "there was a flurry of opposition."
The Shah, who is a Muslim, is a divorced man. A marriage with Juan Carlos is a "more popular choice." The prince, who was born in Rome, is Roman Catholic, as is Maria Gabriella.
The "pretty princess" has been seen several times in public with Count Giovanni Volpi di Misurata.