Yolanda: a popular princess

November 11, 1905

Princess Yolanda of Italy is only four years old, but she has already entered into "the pleasures of her father, and especially her mother," according to the Marquise de Fontenoy's latest dispatch.

Queen Elena shares her passion for fishing with her young daughter.  In the mornings, this "little group of two" can be found in the park at Racconigi castle, "side by side, line in hand, in the profoundest silence."

When little Yolanda catches anything she utters a "shout of delight," and then offers the catch to her mother.

The princess is also learning to ride, and sits on a pony, trotting next to the Queen.  Yolanda is "full of pride," because she can do something her younger sister, Princess Mafalda, cannot do.  She refers to her younger siblings as "the little ones."

King Vittorio Emanuele's eldest daughter is "her mother in miniature."  She has a "mass of magnificent short black curls, and with superb black eyes, soft as velvet."

Princess Yolanda is also said to have a "sparkling intelligence."