Marina, Princess of Naples




Marina, Princess of Naples is a Swiss former water skier. She is the wife of Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, the son of the last king and queen of Italy, Umberto II and Marie José.

Early life

Marina Ricolfi-Doria was born on 12 February 1935 to René Italo Ricolfi-Doria, a Swiss Olympic swimmer, and Iris Benvenuti, who owned a Swiss biscuit company. She has three sisters, Silvia, Nina and Alda, and one brother, Dominique.

Career

In 1955 Ricolfi-Doria became a water-skiing performer at Cypress Gardens, in Florida in the United States. She competed three times in the Water Ski World Championships; in 1953, in 1955 and in 1957. In 1955 she took the Tricks gold medal, and in 1957 she took gold in both Slalom and Tricks, thus becoming the overall women's world champion. She won the overall title in the European Championships every year from 1953 to 1956, and took five or more overall Swiss national titles. In 1991 Ricolfi-Doria was included in the Hall of Fame of the International Water Ski Federation, as the "finest female skier from Europe of the first decade of international competition". She continued to compete until 1960.

Marriage

Ricolfi-Doria met Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia in 1960 at the Société Nautique de Genève, where both were water-skiing. They were married in a Roman Catholic church in Teheran in the autumn of 1971; their wedding had been announced during the 2,500 year celebration of the Persian Empire in Persepolis. They have one son, Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice.
When her husband, Vittorio Emanuele, was allowed to return to his homeland in 2002, they moved from Switzerland to Italy.