, July 1931 Shortly afterwards, the Greek princess had to officially renounce the Orthodox faith and convert to the Catholicism, as required by the laws of the
House of Savoy. On 1 July 1939, Princess Irene married
Prince Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta (9 March 1900 – 29 January 1948).They had one child: •
Prince Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta (27 September 1943 – 1 June 2021) She was also a bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousin,
Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. In March 1942, Irene, who was a trained nurse, headed a
Red Cross hospital train going to Russia to repatriate wounded Italian soldiers. After a difficult journey, she returned to Florence the following month. Prince Aimone became the 4th
Duke of Aosta on 3 March 1942, following the death of his elder brother,
Amedeo. On 18 May 1941, taking the name
Tomislav II, he was proclaimed King of the
Independent State of Croatia, a
puppet state of fascist Germany and Italy, but he never set foot on the territory of the state and abdicated in 1943. After the
Allied armistice with the
Kingdom of Italy, Irene was interned by the Germans at the Hotel Ifen in Hirschegg, Austria, July 1944, along with her infant son, her sister-in-law and two nieces. They were released by the French in May 1945. After the war and the 1946 plebiscite which ended the monarchy in Italy, the family went into exile. Prince Aimone died on 29 January 1948 in Buenos Aires. Upon his death, his son
Amedeo succeeded him as the 5th
Duke of Aosta. In June 1948, the family was allowed to return to Italy, and Irene spent the rest of her life living outside of Florence where she became a member of the
Dominican Third Order and continued her social work. Irene died on 15 April 1974 in
Fiesole, Italy, after fighting a long illness. Finally, in 1996, the ashes of the Duke and Duchess of Aosta were transferred to one of the necropolises of the House of Savoy, at the
Basilica of Superga in Turin. ==Ancestry==