Diofebo Meli Lupi di Soragna

Prince Diofebo Meli Lupi di Soragna, the last holder of the historic title "Prince of the Holy Roman Empire" in his line and longtime steward of the Rocca di Soragna near Parma, died on 20 September 2026 at the age of 85. Italian newspapers including Il Sole 24 Ore, la Repubblica, and Gazzetta di Parma reported his death the same day. The Comune of Soragna declared a day of civic mourning for 21 September, and the Rocca was to remain closed for mourning until 26 September.

Born in Varese in 1941 into one of Italy's oldest noble families, he graduated in Political Science from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan. After serving as a reserve officer in the Alpini, he worked for several years in London in finance. Following his father's death he returned to Italy to manage the family agricultural estate and the historic Rocca di Soragna, a fourteenth-century residence that had long been a cultural landmark of the Parmense.

Under his care the Rocca remained open to visitors and hosted cultural events, gala evenings, and charity initiatives. Among its distinguished guests was Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, who visited Soragna in 1988, a story he often retold with characteristic ease. The castle is also linked to the local legend of Donna Cenerina (Cassandra Marinoni), and Diofebo spoke in interviews of feeling protected by a mysterious presence after near misses on skis and motorcycles.

He was widely known not only for titles, which included Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and of Soragna, Marchese, Grandee of Spain, Count Palatine, Venetian Patrician, and Noble of Bologna, and for knighthoods including in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, but for an affable personality, elegance, and humour. He appeared several times on Italian television, notably the Maurizio Costanzo Show, recounting episodes from a life that included attending the wedding of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco and Wednesday evenings with friends of the "Bunker" group in Busseto. He was also a European powerboat champion, and he liked to say of himself that despite the hundred-room Rocca he remained "a contadino" (a farmer).

Unmarried and without children, he is survived by his sister Isabella and nephews Maria Consolata and Manfredo Radicati di Primelio. Through decades of opening the family seat to the public and treating noble heritage as living culture rather than a closed museum, Diofebo Meli Lupi di Soragna became one of the best known contemporary faces of the Parmense aristocracy.