Update on 'His Tremendousness'

Emily Langer, who often contributes obituaries to the section, reports on the latest news concerning "His Tremendousness," the Prince of Seborga:

In December we reported the death of Giorgio Carbone, 73, a flower merchant turned European prince known to his subjects as "His Tremendousness." Mr. Carbone ruled over Seborga, a tiny medieval town near the Italian Riviera that he and his 300-odd followers declared a sovereign state.

Seborga had "slipped through the cracks of history," Mr. Carbone argued, pointing to obscure treaties that overlooked Seborga when the small states on the Italian peninsula combined to form the nation of Italy in the 1800s.

Beyond the grief that Seborgans felt for the much-loved prince, there was the problem of finding a successor. An only child who lived with his mother well into adult life, Mr. Carbone did not have any children.

"I don't expect to marry and produce an heir," Mr. Carbone told People magazine in 1993, "although I love all my female subjects equally."

But as of Sunday, Seborgans have a new leader, the Daily Telegraph reports. He is Marcello Menegatto, 31, heir to a hosiery company and, now, to Mr. Carbone's legacy.