Prince Junio Valerio Borghese

Prince Junio Valerio Borghese
Name	Junio Valerio Borghese
Birth date	6 June 1906
Birth place	Rome, Kingdom of Italy
Death date	26 August 1974
Death place	Madrid, Spain
Allegiance	Regia Marina
Rank	Capitano di Fregata
Battles	Spanish Civil War, Second World War, Battle of the Mediterranean

Prince Junio Valerio Borghese Prince Junio Valerio Borghese was an Italian naval officer, aristocrat, and postwar political figure prominent in late 20th-century Italian far-right networks. A decorated submariner and commander of human torpedo and frogman units, he later became associated with neo-fascist movements, clandestine operations, and alleged coup plotting that implicated figures across European intelligence and political circles.

Early life and family

Born in Rome into the princely Borghese family, he was the son of Alessandro Borghese, 7th Prince of Sulmona and Ginevra dei Marchesi Santacroce, linking him to aristocratic lineages tied to the Papal States and the Kingdom of Italy. Educated at Accademia Navale di Livorno, he served alongside contemporaries from the Regia Marina and associated with officers later active in the Italian Social Republic and Monarchist National Party. His upbringing intersected with social circles that included members of the Italian Senate, House of Savoy, Fascist Grand Council, and Roman patrician institutions such as the Villa Borghese proprietors and cultural patrons linked to the Accademia dei Lincei.

Military career (World War II)

Borghese trained on surface ships before transferring to special operations; he served aboard submarines in the Regia Marina during the Spanish Civil War and early Second World War Mediterranean campaign. As commander of Decima Flottiglia MAS, he led units employing maiale human torpedoes and combat divers in attacks on Alexandria, Gibraltar, and Malta, cooperating with figures from the Italian Royal Navy and coordinating with Axis commands including the Kriegsmarine and Regio Esercito elements. He received decorations such as the Italian Gold Medal of Military Valor and interacted with commanders from the Xª Flottiglia MAS and operatives connected to the Special Operations Executive on contested operations. During the 1943 armistice period he aligned with the Italian Social Republic, commanding Mas units in the later stages of the Italian Campaign and facing factions from the Italian Co-belligerent Army and partisan groups tied to the Italian Resistance Movement.

Postwar political activity and neo-fascism

After World War II, Borghese was detained and later acquitted or pardoned amid controversial trials involving collaborators, former officers, and members of the Italian Social Republic. He entered a network of veterans, monarchists, and neo-fascist activists that included figures from the Movimento Sociale Italiano, Ordine Nuovo, and Fronte Nazionale. He associated with publishing circles, former Xª Flottiglia MAS comrades, and activists who had contacts with international far-right leaders and émigré communities in Argentina, Spain, and Portugal. His political activities intersected with organizations such as Evangelical Circle groups, Catholic conservative networks around the Democrazia Cristiana opposition, and clandestine circles connected to veterans of the Spanish Civil War and members of the SS-linked expatriate milieu.

1970 Golpe Borghese and alleged coup attempts

In December 1970 a planned coup—later termed the Golpe Borghese—involved meetings at locations tied to neo-fascist organizations, operatives from the Italian military intelligence service (SIFAR), and contacts with politicians from Democrazia Cristiana dissident wings and monarchist factions. Reports linked the scheme to right-wing groups including Ordine Nuovo and networks associated with officers from the Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza, as well as retired members of the Italian intelligence community, and exiles in Spain and Portugal. The plot was halted abruptly; investigations implicated figures from the Secret Italian services, possible facilitation by foreign intelligence such as elements from the Central Intelligence Agency and contacts in the French } milieu, and involvement by far-right militants later charged in terrorism inquiries connected to the Years of Lead.

Legal troubles, exile, and intelligence links

Following the aborted coup, Borghese faced legal scrutiny, accusations of subversion, and allegations of ties to clandestine networks including contacts with SISMI, SIFAR, and foreign services. He spent time abroad in Spain under the regime of Francisco Franco and maintained connections with expatriate communities in Argentina and Chile where former Fascist and Nazi collaborators had relocated. Investigations by parliamentary commissions in Italy explored alleged links between Borghese, anti-communist operatives, and secret structures such as Gladio-related cells; judicial inquiries examined associations with terrorists involved in incidents attributed to neo-fascist groups like Ordine Nuovo and criminal episodes tied to the strategy of tension. Media outlets, magistrates, and historians debated the extent of cooperation between Borghese, elements of Italian intelligence, and foreign services including the CIA, MI6, and services from Spain and Portugal.

Personal life and legacy

Borghese married into European aristocratic networks, maintaining familial ties with Roman nobility and international émigré communities; his private life included residence periods in Rome, Madrid, and Lisbon. He died in Madrid in 1974; his death prompted renewed parliamentary and journalistic inquiries into his activities, influencing later studies of postwar Italian extremism, clandestine operations, and the cross-border supports linking far-right movements. His legacy appears in scholarship addressing the Years of Lead, parliamentary reports on subversion, and cultural treatments in Italian media and historiography, with assessments by historians of the Italian Republic, legal scholars, and investigative journalists exploring intersections with the Cold War and European right-wing networks.

Category:Italian nobility Category:Italian military personnel of World War II Category:Neo-fascism in Italy