Italy’s former royal family returns home to mixed reception

ITALY’S former royal family got a mixed reception over the weekend on a return visit to the nation they once reigned, with a few hundred protesters booing them and others scuffling with pro-monarchists.

Until last year, the family had been legally banned from Italy due to the House of Savoy’s support for Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

But parliament changed that law, and the Swiss-based family made their first brief visit in December, meeting the pope.