01x03 - Episode 3

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "The King Who Never Was". Aired: July 4, 2023.*
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This docuseries sheds light on the k*lling of a German teenager in '78 through the accounts of his sister and the royal family involved in the case.
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01x03 - Episode 3

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[tense music playing]

[reporter] Vittorio Emanuele of
Savoy has spent the night in prison.

Kings are usually known
for their good manners,

but this morning the prince
didn't show up on time.

The family of the Italian crown prince
looks worried.

[tense music continues]

[camera clicks]

[Vittorio] As the whole world
was preparing to watch

the death of the bull,

while I was walking to the courtroom,
that's when I was kidnapped.

[crowd shouting]

I was kidnapped, abducted

by the prison guards,
as you'd call them.

They seized me

and locked me up.

I was already locked up anyway.

Then, they told me

it was because they wanted to ask
the ministry of justice

to raise their wages.

[in French] Our
budget is very low.

THIERRY VANDEPUT
TRADE UNIONIST

That's why we are blocking the prison,
not because of the prince.

[reporter] You won't
let the prince out?

We're not letting
anyone out. No one.

[tense music continues]

[Vittorio in English] I was taken
by their leader, a brute, who told me,

"Now you walk these ten feet
and sit in the back of the van."

"Should it overturn, run away,
and look for the nearest police station."

I get in the van.

I mean, they were already angry.

And what do I see inside?

One of these young policemen,
or whatever he was, with a machine g*n.

I thought, "If this guy sh**t,
all hell will break loose."

[reporter] Ironically,
the prison guards are pushed

out of the jail by
the anti-riot squad.

The prince, finally free,
is heading to the court of justice,

escorted, applauded
by the crowd.

It's not a prisoner transfer
but a royal parade.

[music ends]

For 17 years, I
had to defend myself

from all those who wanted the death
of the bull, like in a bullring.

But a bull has horns.

[upbeat music playing]

THE KING WHO NEVER WAS

[crown rattling]

[airplane whirring]

[g*n fires]

[upbeat music continues]

[handcuffs clicking]

[cameras clicking]

[music fades]

[cameras clicking]

[Vittorio] Then they handcuffed me
before going in.

But they weren't
regular handcuffs.

They locked with a screw.

These were relics from the past.

I thought, "Were these used
to handcuff Louis XVI?"

[dramatic music playing]

[cameras clicking]

He was the protagonist
of my nightmares,

and the mere thought
of having to see him in person

was like t*rture to me.

[dramatic music intensifies]

[reporter] He takes a seat in the dock,
under the fresco portraying Saint Louis,

the patron of judges.

He is as still as a waxwork,

under siege by photographers
and cameramen.

The Hamer family sits in front of him.
Father, younger brother, and two sisters.

The mother died six years ago.

[dramatic music continues]

I remember dozens of journalists
were already there.

The president, Maurice Colomb,
starts the proceedings.

He opens the files and starts reading
in an extremely low voice,

inaudible even to the people
sitting in the front rows.

I thought, "What's
going on here?"

[dramatic music continues]

[tense music playing]

[reporter in Italian] Then it's the
turn of Marina, Vittorio Emanuele's wife,

who remembers vividly
the tragic events

of August 18th, 1978.

"A strange group of people
was near our boat,"

the princess says.

"We were threatened."

"So I told my husband
to take a g*n with him."

"I heard some insults
and then the g*nshots."

[ominous music playing]

[Marina in French] Many
witnesses on the island heard four sh*ts,

all making different sounds.

Even the witness
statements against us,

of people who were on boats
and had no idea what was happening,

said they heard
three, four sh*ts.

Some even said five.

[in German] Even Birgit Hamer,
the sister of the deceased…

MR. GAUB LAWYER
OF VITTORIO EMANUELE OF SAVOY

…heard three g*nshots.

[flare sizzling]

[ominous music continues]

[Birgit in Italian] During the trial,
the head defense lawyer

tried to twist my words around,
as in the statement I wrote in German,

I mentioned
"three explosions."

Meaning two g*nshots,
and the third must have been a flare.

Since I'm not an expert
on these kinds of things,

I'd never heard
those noises before,

I never said,
"Three b*ll*ts."

But my statement was translated in French,
I don't know who did it,

and it said, "I
heard three b*ll*ts."

[Nicky] The witnesses
all agree that the first two sh*ts

were clearly fired by his r*fle.

After that, the explosions
that were heard afterwards

were the flares launched
from the boats to light up the scene.

[eerie music playing]

[in English] And then came a testimony
that was really unbelievable,

by someone called Isolabella.

Lawyer Isolabella.

Lodovico Isolabella.

A top lawyer, very
famous in Milan.

GIANNI BARBACETTO
JOURNALIST

Openly monarchist.

PINO APRILE
JOURNALIST

He walked in, didn't look at anybody.
He kneeled before the defendant.

[suspenseful music playing]

He says and testifies that he's heard
someone in a coffee bar in Portofino,

saying that the sh*ts weren't fired
by Vittorio Emanuele but by someone else.

[reporter] The defense has
produced a witness, the lawyer Isolabella,

who, somewhat
confusingly, has tried

to involve a third man,
Mr. Victor Guglielmi.

According to the witness, the shot
that k*lled Dirk was fired from his g*n.

[clicking]

[in Italian] I never said it was
Vittorio Guglielmi, whom I don't know.

LODOVICO ISOLABELLA
FRIEND OF VITTORIO EMANUELE OF SAVOY

I said that the shot might have been fired
by Vittorio Guglielmi's g*n.

I don't know who
was handling it.

Certainly not Vittorio Emanuele,

because none of
the ballistic elements allows that.

[Giorgio in English] I guess
you could say their strategy

was not to accuse my brother,
because his g*n hadn't fired any sh*ts,

any ballistic test
would have confirmed that.

That was out of the question.

Yet, they exploited that
in the trial as a means

of casting doubt on the jurors.

"Are we certain he fired?
Could it be that he didn't?"

His primary purpose was to toss
in a new idea,

that there was another gunman
who might have, theoretically…

[somber music playing]

…fired at the
exact same moment,

while Vittorio Emanuele was in the water
with Nicky Pende.

Out of nowhere, another
sh**t appeared,

and he fired his g*n
at the exact same angle,

hitting the boy's
femoral artery.

[in French] Our position
is already firm.

The Prince of Savoy is innocent.
He didn't fire the fatal g*nsh*t.

[Birgit in Italian] Through my lawyer,
Sabine Paugam, I repeatedly asked

the president of the court to hear
the witnesses who were there that night,

namely, all the
people on those boats.

Because if there really was
a second imaginary sh**t,

like a ghost, someone
must have seen him.

[in English] Vittorio Emanuele
was the sh**t.

Why? Because everyone recognized him
when he stepped on the boat.

Also, by cross-referencing the testimony
of the people who were on board,

who pointed at the prince.

Basically, you don't have to be

a detective to realize
that it had to be him.

But I've never been called
to testify in court. Never.

Nobody ever questioned me
or asked for my statement.

They never called me to testify,
never, which I also found rather strange.

I was in Giovanni Malagò's boat,
the one in the middle.

I'm one of the few witnesses
who testified at the Paris trial.

[low eerie music playing]

I think I was called
by the Savoys' legal team

and not by Birgit.

[cameras clicking]

At first they asked,
"Did you see a g*n fire?" "No."

"Did you see the
defendant firing a g*n?"

"No, because I was inside my cabin
when it all happened."

"Did you happen to notice
the defendant move away from your boats?"

"No," I said, "because I went out
for a few seconds later,

and no one was
there by then."

And that was it.
They thanked me and let me go.

[intriguing music playing]

THREE WITNESSES OUT OF THIRTY HEARD
BY STELLA PENDE

[Birgit] However, as if it were
a thing of the utmost importance,

they kept calling moral witnesses
of the defendant.

And we had to listen
to them for hours.

One minor detail, though,

none of these moral witnesses were
on the scene the night of the m*rder.

He produced witnesses
that had nothing to do with the case…

BERND HAMER
DIRK HAMER'S BROTHER

…such as Professor Piccard,
who built submarines.

A former Italian ambassador,
an oceanographer,

a French writer…

[reporter] Edmonde
Charles-Roux describes her friend.

[Edmonde] "Vittorio is
a good man, an exile."

"Nothing is more
difficult than that."

[reporter] It's
a success for the defense.

The crown prince's friends
can breathe a sigh of relief.

For 13 years, I had
fought to get a trial.

I believed in justice
as an institution.

[solemn music playing]

And I gave a complete
and thorough testimony in French.

I said everything I knew,
exactly as it was.

The silence was such
that you could hear a pin drop.

Then Nicky Pende testified.

[interviewer in Italian] Mr. Pende,
you're one of the few witnesses

from that night who were heard.

You basically say that he shot at you,
and he could have k*lled you, right?

I definitely think so,
because I clearly felt

the heat of the b*ll*ts
flying over my head.

Is it possible that another g*n
fired? I mean…

Do you really believe
that in those 30, 40 seconds,

a second phantom sh**t
could have grabbed a g*n

and aimed it at a boy
in a cabin packed with people?

His wife said she didn't see anyone
sh**ting from the beach.

From the boats, nobody saw anyone.
So where was he?

[reporter in English] The
prosecutor was very harsh.

"Two g*nshots were fired," he said.
"Intentionally fired."

"A young man was wounded
by one of these sh*ts."

"The French penal code doesn't focus
on the identity of the victim,

but it punishes the act of v*olence.
That is the act of sh**ting."

"Therefore, Vittorio
Emanuele is guilty."

- [somber music playing]
- [cameras clicking]

For 13 years,
they've tried to cover it up,

yet in court the following day,
where you swear to God,

I had faith that
the truth would finally surface

and justice would be done.

[Emanuele Filiberto] You suffer

because you're seeing the person
you love the most in pain.

EMANUELE FILIBERTO OF SAVOY
SON OF VITTORIO EMANUELE

And when you don't know,
it's out of your control.

You don't… you
don't know what's gonna happen.

You don't know
what went through the minds of…

I forget how many
jurors. Maybe 12.

You look in their eyes,
and you can't tell whether they

believe it or not,
understand or not…

Until the judge asks,
"Have you reached a verdict?"

"Yes, Your
Honor." "What is it?"

The verdict was read aloud.

And I grabbed onto something,
trying not to faint.

[dramatic music playing]

Everyone rose.
It was so quiet.

I remember the exact words.

[dramatic music continues]

"Mr. Savoy was indicted
on three counts."

"First count."

"Did he act
intentionally?"

"Yes or no?"

"No."

[dramatic music intensifies]

"Second."

"Was he the cause of
Mr. Hamer's death?"

"No."

[dramatic music continues]

"Third count. The r*fle."

"Was it a
military r*fle? Yes."

"Did he have
a license? No."

"Then we sentence him to five months
on parole. You're free to go."

[indistinct conversations]

[fanfare music playing]

[fanfare music continues]

Yes.

- [in French] Later. Where to?
- [guard] Towards the exit, Your Majesty.

[Emanuele Filiberto in English]
We didn't just get out of a courtroom.

We got out of a
15-year nightmare.

[Vittorio in Italian]
So, I have always had faith

in the French justice system

and in my lawyers.

Because I have always
said I was innocent.

We're going to
be crushed in here.

[in French] After 13 years,
we don't know who k*lled Hamer?

[Vittorio]
Sadly, we don't.

[reporter] The prince only knows
that he didn't.

[Vittorio] Right.
It wasn't me.

[in English] Yes.

[dramatic music continues]

So many people.

Whoa.

Forget about Louis XVI.

[dramatic music continues]

Then I saw my
lawyer burst into tears.

Because she had believed
in the French justice system.

I was with Birgit.

We left the courtroom together,
with her, her partner…

their little girl, Sigrid,
and Sabine Paugam.

They got to the lawyer's house,
and they went into her room,

and from outside
you could hear…

their sobbing,
followed by a sweet, reassuring voice.

It was her partner, Harry Beck,

who was trying to comfort her,

while behind the door

their two-year-old girl was pointing
at her mother with her finger.

She could hear her crying.

[sad music playing]

[Sigrid Hamer] I was one in '91.

I was taken to Paris.

SIGRID HAMER
BIRGIT HAMER'S DAUGHTER

And that's when a whole new life started
for all of them, therefore, for us too,

because we grew up…

in a situation
that we couldn't really understand,

being children,

because our world was
very different, right?

Yet we felt this pain…

It was just in the air.

[sad music continues]

[woman] I wasn't even born
when this tragedy happened.

DELIA HAMER
BIRGIT HAMER'S DAUGHTER

So I experienced the tragedy
through my mother.

Her emotional burden,
her sadness, although…

It didn't belong to me.
Nevertheless, it was inherited by us.

DIRK HAMER'S PORTRAIT
BY HIS NIECE DELIA

I think my father was a bit…
And I don't mean to be judgmental,

but I think he was too shallow

to cope with this
kind of situation.

So he decided to quit.

I was six months old,
my sister was almost three years old,

and he abandoned us.

That's partly why we decided
to move to Spain.

[sad music continues]

[Marzotto] Birgit was desperate.
She didn't know what to do.

So I got on a
plane, and I said…

PAOLA MARZOTTO
FRIEND OF BIRGIT HAMER

…"If you accept my help, I'll come over
and take you away from this situation."

And we found a house for her.

On the one hand, my first few years
in Spain were really pleasant,

since I had my two daughters with me,
whom I loved so much.

But on the other hand,
the legal battle was still ongoing.

There were these
two parallel realities.

[upbeat music playing]

JANUARY 23, 1993

[in Italian] You were acquitted
for the events in Cavallo.

Looking back at those events,
what do you make of all that?

Yes, it's been a year.
A year has passed already.

Uh, surely, it's
not a nice memory.

Uh, what I can tell you is

that I still feel sad
whenever I think of the victim.

[reporter] Do you
think this has played

a role in your relationship
with the Italians?

[Vittorio]
Definitely. Yes.

Now I hope that the exile law
will finally be repealed

and that we'll be allowed
to visit our homeland again.

I WILL RETURN TO ITALY

[in English] Italians are
the best people in the world.

[intriguing music playing]

They weren't particularly nice to
me, of course.

They took everything
away from me.

But I was perfectly aware

of what was going on
with that messy referendum.

Wish I'd been spared from that.

[intriguing music continues]

[reporter in Italian] The law
banning the Savoy male heirs

from returning to Italy
is being discussed again.

[reporter 2] Mr. Fini, should we keep
the Savoys out a little bit longer, or…

GIANFRANCO FINI
EX-PRESIDENT OF THE DEPUTY CHAMBER

Well, I reiterate
that this issue should be discussed

regardless of Vittorio Emanuele
and what happened on Cavallo Island.

I think Italy has no reason to worry
about Savoys' bodies and heirs returning.

At least he can go
on trial here in Italy.

- Lama.
- I will only say this.

LUCIANO LAMA
FORMER TRADE UNIONIST AND POLITICIAN

I honestly prefer
to see Mr. Savoy free in France

rather than on trial in Italy.

[in English] The debate went on
for decades in Italy,

about whether or not to overturn
the transitional rule

of the Republican Constitution
banning the Savoys male heirs

from setting
foot in Italy again.

LET THEM COME BACK

[Emanuele Filiberto] I was guilty
at birth.

I was guilty inside
my mother's womb.

I wasn't allowed
to return to Italy.

Guilty of something
that I hadn't even seen.

I was born in
'72, well after '46.

I can understand banning the king,
banning the queen.

Perhaps I could even understand
banning my father for a while.

But I was born outside of all of that.
Why can't I go?

[calm music playing]

[man in Italian] When you are allowed
to come to Italy,

I believe one day this will happen,
where will you go?

The very first place.

To Venice.

[man] Do you ever talk about Italy
with your friends?

Sometimes.

[man] What are you to them?
Swiss or Italian?

- To my friends?
- [man] Yes.

Swiss.

- [man] And how do you consider yourself?
- Italian.

[actor on TV] What
will our fate be?

[Emanuele Filiberto]
What will our fate be?

[calm music continues]

[politician on TV] 460
participants, 416 voters, 44 abstentions,

JULY 11, 2002

310 votes needed.
347 voted in favor.

69 against.
Motion approved.

[suspenseful music playing]

It's a wonderful
day for my husband.

He has waited 56 years.

Important news for
the Savoy male heirs.

After over 50 years,
they will be allowed to return to Italy.

[plane whirring]

[adventurous music playing]

[film projector
clicking and whirring]

[adventurous music continues]

DECEMBER 23, 2002
ROME

[tense music playing]

- [adventurous music playing]
- [indistinct shouting]

Today is the
best day of our life.

Finally, after all these years,

we are allowed to return
to our beloved homeland.

The chapter of our exile
has finally come to an end.

And the chapter of our engagement begins.
Long live Italy.

VITTORIO EMANUELE
ONE LIFE AND MANY MISTAKES

[adventurous music continues]

[reporter] Many social events lined
up for them, as well as formal meetings.

The first one is tomorrow
with the president of the republic.

[intriguing music playing]

- Mr. President.
- Welcome back to the Quirinal.

CARLO AZEGLIO CIAMPI
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC 1999-2006

- This must be an emotional moment for you.
- Thanks. Yes, indeed.

[intriguing music continues]

[in English] I remember seeing this street
in Rome, "Corso Vittorio Emanuele."

I was really fascinated by that.

[intriguing music continues]

[Vittorio in Italian]
I'll go back to Naples

and then back to Rome again.

Then I'll start touring the whole of Italy
with my son, who's never seen it.

[Emanuele Filiberto in English] Going back
to Naples is a bit like rewinding a tape,

going back to the beginning.

[intriguing music intensifies]

[indistinct conversations]

It was a wonderful first impression
of Italy.

I went with them
on their first trips.

They were met by a slew of people
ready to do business with them.

LUCIANO REGOLO
JOURNALIST

They had several
proposals for them.

And it seemed
that whatever deal they were offered

really excited them.

They seemed captivated.

[motorbike revving]

[Birgit] One day, I
was with my daughters

at their boarding school
in Spain, in Andalusia,

when suddenly my phone rang.

It was my dear Italian friend,
and she said,

"Birgit! Birgit! You
won't believe this!"

[mysterious music playing]

[Emanuele Filiberto] I was in Paris,
coming back from a trip.

Really nice weather.

I was just soaking everything
in, thinking,

"Everything's great.
It's a gorgeous day."

I go home to see
my kids and wife.

And as soon as I get off my bike,
I got a phone call.

"Your father has
been arrested."

"Again?" [chuckling]

[in Italian] Good evening from TG1.
We're opening with some breaking news.

JUNE 16, 2006

Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy

was arrested earlier today.

The allegations are serious.

Criminal conspiracy to commit bribery
and sex trafficking.

Vittorio Emanuele was arrested
while he was with his wife, Marina Doria,

uh, in Varenna by Lake Como.
"They caught him like a bandit,"

says his son Emanuele Filiberto.

[action music playing]

GAMBLING AND WOMEN
ARRESTED

VITTORIO
EMANUELE ARRESTED

CHECK TO THE KING

I traveled in this small village
on the edge of the lake

to deliver a bell

to the church.

And they arrested me,
or rather, two people told me,

"Look, it is very
dangerous for you here."

"So you should follow us.
Get in the car with us."

I was taken, put
inside, and kidnapped.

It was... It was
not an arrest.

It was an outright kidnapping.

[mysterious music playing]

[in English] The
driver was quite small.

The poor man next to him, who was a cop,
was as tall as me.

Imagine both of
us in a tiny Fiat.

And it's a pretty long journey
to the South.

[mysterious music continues]

We basically stopped at every gas station
to buy beer or something.

Then we ran out of gas.

I paid for both the beer
and for the gas. [laughing]

[birds chirping]

I had no idea
what I was being arrested for.

I didn't find out
until I finally got to Potenza.

COURT OF JUSTICE

[Barbacetto] A prosecutor from Potenza,
Henry Woodcock,

was running an investigation
on a criminal association…

that was being charged
with a criminal conspiracy,

which included bribery,
extortion, unlawful gambling,

sex trafficking, forgeries,

threats, and
aiding and abetting.

It was a diverse group,

and Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy
was abetting.

[reporter] Campione d'Italia.

This is the suspected location

of the prince's
and his partners' criminal operation.

According to the investigators,
the goal was to entice

the casino's clientele, who had
significant wealth of questionable origin,

by offering them a variety of luxuries,
including women.

Sex trafficking, smuggling of…
I don't even know what.

Reading on, it turns out
I was also mentioned in the file.

I was accused of software piracy.
I have no idea what that is.

I remember going with my daughters
to the mountains,

because they'd arrested my father,
and I didn't know why.

Even my mother had left Italy.

I didn't know what was going on.

My wife was told,

"Careful, they're going to lock you up.
You must leave now,"

and she fled immediately.

[intriguing music playing]

[Marina] It was incredible.

The allegations made
against him were crazy. So, I don't know.

I wonder if perhaps the Italians,
or some of them,

were a bit scared that
we still had a significant following.

[chuckling]

Mysterious things
happen in Italy.

In Potenza it was freezing cold.

And I still didn't know
what was going on.

They just put
me in a prison cell.

I just thought,
"This is insanity."

"Something's
really wrong here."

I was tired. I
couldn't sleep.

There was a bench.

There were four or five people
in that cell.

Some old friends were there.

[mambo music playing]

[reporter] The prince's
codefendants are Sicilian Rocco Migliardi,

a slot machine dealer
with alleged Mafia ties,

and Ugo Bonazza,

a former meat distributor,
who made a fortune in gambling.

There are pictures showing the two men
handing Vittorio Emanuele

envelopes containing cash.

[in Italian] The envelope was
his donation to…

to the Order
of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.

[reporter in English] Vittorio
Emanuele is the grand master

of the Order
of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.

[intriguing music continues]

[reporter in Italian]
The investigating judge, Iannuzzi,

has signed his release, as expected,
after the preliminary interrogation…

JUNE 23, 2006

…where Vittorio Emanuele
has partially admitted his responsibility

in the bribery accusations
of the casino in Campione d'Italia.

[police siren blaring]

The black SUV speeds away from the
prison, sirens on.

Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy
is running home.

Reportedly, he immediately asked
about his family.

[intriguing music continues]

[in English] They put him in prison
for a week, I think.

We couldn't visit him.

Then they gave him a
six-month travel ban.

How ironic. First they don't want him
to come to Italy,

then they say, "Now you stay,
and you can't leave."

[reporter in Italian] For a few
days, the prince has shared a cell

with Rocco
Migliardi, from Messina,

who, the prosecutors say,
did the dirty work for the prince.

According to the prince,
he was giving to charity.

[Migliardi] He got a tan. If you look
at him now, he has a nice suntan.

[reporter 2] In the courtyard,
he'd take his shirt off and sunbathe?

[Migliardi] Yes.
He'd walk around barefoot.

[in English] In September 2010,

Vittorio Emanuele
and the other five codefendants

are acquitted on the grounds
that there is no case to answer.

[dramatic music playing]

I remember some magazine covers.
One had a photo of him naked

holding a crown here,
titled "the king is naked."

Hundreds of articles. The whole world knew
about him being arrested.

Then, when he was
completely cleared,

there must have been
something like six footnotes.

This long.

It appeared that Vittorio Emanuele
would have a happy ending once more.

However, an unexpected turn of events
threw the ball back in the game.

Basically, Vittorio Emanuele,
while in prison in Potenza,

decides to talk about
the old Cavallo incident

with his cellmate,

[tense music playing]

He's being wiretapped.

[in Italian] "I tricked
the French judges."

SEPTEMBER 9, 2006

Vittorio Emanuele, wiretapped in prison,
speaks in a less-than-noble way

about the Cavallo
m*rder in 1978.

[tense music continues]

[reporter] It's not the first time Vittorio
Emanuele has spoken out of turn.

This time, however, while laughing it off,
he admitted to murdering a man.

Three months ago,
wiretapped in prison in Potenza,

he told his cellmate
the real story,

mocking the French judges
who had acquitted him.

[reporter 2] "I was
guilty, but I managed to trick them,"

the Savoy bragged
to his cellmate.

And he added, "Amazing.
I had 20 witnesses,

many high-profile French people.
I was sure I would win."

Controversy over the release
of the wiretapped conversation

of Vittorio Emanuele,

confessing his responsibility
in the m*rder of a young man…

[reporter 3] …he states the
g*nshots that k*lled the German boy

were fired from his r*fle.

The words attributed to Vittorio Emanuele
by the press don't exist.

GIULIA BONGIORNO
VITTORIO EMANUELE'S LAWYER

I read the transcript
of the wiretapping…

FRANCESCO MURGIA
VITTORIO EMANUELE'S LAWYER

…and absolutely it does not contain,
nor allows room for speculation,

that Vittorio Emanuele mentioned
anything about his liabilities in Cavallo.

[Emanuele Filiberto] I know
he never said those things.

What came out
in the newspaper is a patchwork

of a 25-minute
conversation in his cell.

They took some words
and assembled them together

and did what they did.

He never said those things.

[action music playing]

SEPTEMBER 28, 2006
MILAN

[Vittorio] I kept
quiet for many weeks,

as recommended by my lawyers.

Now it's time for me to speak up
and let the truth emerge.

Random fragments of conversations
have been taken out of context

regarding old events
archived decades ago.

[action music continues]

They have twisted the meaning
behind my thoughts and my words.

Therefore, let me talk about justice,
truth, and the tragic death of Dirk Hamer.

The b*llet that hit the young man
could not have been shot from my r*fle.

It was proven by experts
before the Court of Assize

and the judge.

Someone did sh**t
that poor young man with a g*n.

It wasn't my r*fle!

[in English] He
denies it so forcefully

that you begin to suspect
that nothing is true.

[in Italian] Thank you.

[applause]

Here. I'll
leave this here.

[in English] The issue is that
these statements weren't simply stated.

They were also recorded
and even recorded on video.

ANTONIO PADELLARO
JOURNALIST

We knew there was a video.

The footage contained
incriminating statements.

Some of these statements
had been transcribed by the press,

but they didn't have the tape.
So, a hunt for the tape began.

[Birgit] We packed our things,
and we went to Rome to look for it.

From 2006 to 2011.

Birgit's hunt for the tape containing
Vittorio Emanuele's confession

went on for a long time.

She sent countless,
repeated formal requests

to the legal authorities
in possession of the video.

Eventually, they gave it to Birgit,
who was entitled to view it,

as the victim's sister.

[in Italian] Footage recorded in prison
during the Vallettopoli scandal…

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

…nails Vittorio Emanuele,
who threatens legal action.

[Barbacetto] Vittorio Emanuele confesses,
"I shot him. I hit his leg."

He even mimics the sh**ting.

[Vittorio in Italian] …and the
trial, even if I was… guilty…

guilty…

…the r*fle… I must
say I was guilty.

I fired a shot like
this, pointing down,

but the b*llet went
here and hit his leg…

and hit his leg, and
he was… lying down,

passing through the cabin.

b*llet 30-0-3.

[in English]
But to be honest…

I don't think I said anything.

Because I don't remember doing it.
I was tired.

Or if I did, it wasn't about that.
I never mentioned it to anyone.

They made everything up.

I've never seen
the famous footage.

I don't know.

But I'm surprised because I've never said
anything about Cavallo,

since I thought,
"Cavallo is not here."

"Here we are in Italy."

[reporter] For the French judicial
system this doesn't change anything.

After the final acquittal,
the case cannot be reopened.

Vittorio Emanuele started
a defamation lawsuit against Birgit

and our newspaper, il Fatto
Quotidiano, for releasing the video.

The Court of Appeal, at
the end of the investigation procedure,

acquitted both Birgit and il
Fatto Quotidiano,

because the right to the truth held
by the victim's family overrules

the right to oblivion demanded
by Vittorio Emanuele.

VITTORIO EMANUELE AND HAMER
"HE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS DEATH"

What a huge relief.

We were finally
done having to live…

with this tension, with

this burden…

of constantly having
to sue and fight…

["Le vent nous portera"
by Noir Désir playing]

Now we know that our w*r, in the end,
through a form of divine justice,

has been won.

["Le vent nous
portera" continues]

["Le vent nous
portera" continues]

[Birgit] Personally, I decided
I will never ever, ever return

to Sardinia or to Cavallo.

2022
PORTO ROTONDO, SARDINIA

However, it might be necessary
to go there, where all the evil started,

to break that spell.

["Le vent nous
portera" continues]

[Sigrid Hamer] I think it's important
for all of us to properly understand,

process, and put things
back where they belong,

so we can have peace.

["Le vent nous
portera" continues]

[boat revving]

This tragedy had an
impact on my family.

I mean, problems don't die
with the generation in which they begin.

CAVALLO ISLAND
CORSICA, FRANCE

Having a sense of closure
where these events happened

is a wonderful thing.

It's a liberating power.

[Sigrid Hamer] Knowing that we did it,
I mean, that we faced the black hole…

that's all we need to move on.

And we earned that.

["Le vent nous
portera" continues]

[Birgit] Yes, this
allows me to start over,

to find some peace within me.

[announcer in Italian] Emanuele Filiberto
is the winner

of Ballando con le Stelle 2009!

[Emanuele Filiberto in English]
After the exile, I appeared on Italian TV

to introduce
myself to the people.

You'll never see a show
quoting my full name,

"Emanuele
Filiberto of Savoy."

It's just
"Emanuele Filiberto."

Perhaps it was also a way for me
to start, you know,

living my life.

["Le vent nous
portera" continues]

My daughters are the future, but

they're the first ones
after more than one thousand years

who are really free.

They have no anchor pulling them
somewhere else.

And this anchor, unfortunately,
when you pull it up,

it's covered in
seaweed, in…

all sorts of things.

So, I want to leave
something clean behind.

[song fades]

That's what I want
my legacy to be.

I have no…

I have no regrets.

I'd do it all again...
Well, apart from Cavallo.

Other than that, my
life has been perfect.

And living differently
would've been tough for me.

What should I have done instead?

[director] Ready for action.
Sixty-seven, one, take three.

[Vittorio] Listen,
who wants some champagne?

- [Emanuele Filiberto] Everybody.
- [Vittorio] Bring it over.

I still have plenty of stories to tell,
but I can't tell them.

Stories about Juan Carlos.

He was a bit rude with my wife and I
when we had disagreements.

With Carlos…

JUAN CARLOS OF BOURBON
KING OF SPAIN 1975-2014

…and I don't know why,
because we've always been so friendly.

Better yet, I was there!

[mysterious music playing]

We were in exile,
and we used to go sh**ting…

some jars or bottles, whatever
we could find at the beach in Cascais.

[mysterious music continues]

Juanito made a mess.

He shot his brother.
And he k*lled him.

[mournful music playing]

His name was Alfonsito.

He didn't sh**t at him directly.
He shot through the closet.

He just happened to be there.
It was an accident. No doubt about it.

THE SAVOY FAMILY AT THE FUNERAL
OF ALFONSO OF BOURBON

I immediately hid my g*n. I was afraid
they would have blamed me for it again.

What happened after
that, Franco called.

He sent his ambassador, saying,

"Juanito, leave immediately with me
and come to Spain."

That's when Franco said,
"I'll make a king out of him."

[mournful music
crescendos and fades]

[upbeat music playing]

[upbeat music continues]

[music ends]
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