By Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy-Aosta
The night descends on my laborious day, and while the shadows flow over and submerge my earthly life and I feel the end approaching, I raise my grateful thoughts to God for giving me a life of infinite grace, especially that of serving the Fatherland and my King with honor and humility. Before closing my eyes to the earthly light, great fortune has permitted me to behold the realization of my youthful dream, the complete redemption of Italy, thanks to the valor of my soldiers who contributed to the Victory, crowned with a laurel, by their sacrifices.
Therefore I die serenely, certain of a magnificent future for our Fatherland, under the enlightened leadership of the King and the wise government of the Duce.
To my August Sovereign, whom I have always served with loyalty, ardor and faith, I address the dearest expressions of my soul, grateful for the affection he has always had for me.
To my dearest nephew Umberto, promise and hope of Italy, I give my most affectionate and fervent wishes.
To Her Majesty the Queen, to my wife Helen, to my sons Amedeo and Aimone, to my brothers Vittorio and Luigi, to all my relatives, I give my grateful thoughts for the good they wished me and which I have reciprocated with equal tenderness.
In this hour of sad passing I desire particularly to express all my gratitude to Helen for the infinite care she has always bestowed upon me and to pray my two dear sons to continue in the path which I have traced for them and which is summed up in the motto: All for the Fatherland and the King.
My last salute goes to all my friends, collaborators and dear companions of the Army of the Carso and of the Piave, to whom I again express all my gratitude insofar as my orders contributed to the glory of the Third Army and to the grandeur of the Fatherland.
I wish my grave to be, if possible, in the Cemetary of Redipuglia in the midst of the Heroes of the Third Army. I shall thus be, with Them, as a watchful sentinel on the frontiers of Italy, within sight of that Carso which beheld epic gestures and countless sacrifices, overlooking that sea which welcomes the the remains of the sailors of Italy.
EMANUELE FILIBERTO OF SAVOY
Duke of Aosta
