On October 25, 1930 – the wedding of Tsar Boris III
and Joanna of Savoy
On October 25, 1930, the 36-year-old Tsar Boris III married the 23-year-old Giovanna Elisabetta Antonia Romana Maria, Princess of Savoy, who took the name Joanna in honor of St. John of Rila. She was the fourth and second-to-last child of Italian King Victor Emmanuel.
The engagement took place secretly in the summer of 1930 in San Rossore and was officially announced on October 3. The wedding ceremony was held in the small Italian town of Assisi, not far from Pisa. Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, former Tsar Ferdinand, Prime Minister Andrei Lyapchev and other ministers, Prince Kiril Preslavski, Princess Evdokia and others attended the event. Dressed in full general’s uniform and decorated with Bulgaria’s highest order, St. Cyril and St. Methodius, Tsar Boris III waited for his future wife in front of the old church of St. Francis. At that moment, a light rain began to fall, and many people quoted the Italian proverb: “A bride wet by rain will be happy for a hundred years.” Giovanna was dressed in a white gown with a very long train and a veil of antique lace.
In the church, witnesses on behalf of Tsar Boris III are Prince Kiril Preslavski and his brother-in-law, the Duke of Württemberg; on behalf of the bride, the heir to the throne, Prince Umberto, and Giovanna’s brother-in-law, Count Calvi di Bergolo. The ceremony was short and modest, with the newlyweds exchanging gold rings. They then went to the municipality to sign the marriage contract. Prime Ministers Benito Mussolini and Andrei Lyapchev signed as witnesses.
Tsar Boris III and Joanna of Savoy depart from Brindisi on the steamship Tsar Ferdinand. They dock in Burgas, where they are greeted by the Minister of Railways, Prof. Petko Staynov.
On October 31, they arrive in Sofia at 10 a.m. They are greeted at the station by the garrison commander, Andrei Lyapchev, ministers, and diplomats.
The motorcade stops at Lion Bridge in front of a special arch. The mayor of Sofia, General Vladimir Vazov, welcomes the newlyweds with bread and salt. Young women throw white mushrooms, planes circle over the city, and 101 cannon salutes are fired from the redoubt. Church bells ring solemnly.
Afterwards, at the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the newlyweds were blessed by the acting chairman of the Holy Synod, Metropolitan Neofit, who gave a guiding speech. This was followed by a prayer service and the start of three days of wedding celebrations in the capital.
Memories from the wedding of Tsar Boris III and Joanna of Savoy are on display in Hall 5 of the permanent exhibition at the Bulgarian History Museum. These include a wreath of orange blossoms worn by the bride in Assisi and a white goose feather with a gold nib decorated with a purple ribbon, with which the marriage contract was signed on October 25, 1930. These unique items belonged to Queen Joanna and were donated to the museum by her son Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in accordance with her will. The exhibition also includes an exquisite silver heart-shaped box for wedding candies. Queen Joanna’s monogram is mounted on its lid. The box was given to Anna de Greno-Stancheva as a wedding gift. The front page of the popular magazine Illustrated Week with photos from the wedding celebrations in Sofia is also on display.
Text: Mariana Parvanova
