Ancient writers have many discordant opinions regarding the origins of the family. The Ruffos are clearly established end referred to around the year 1000. Their power manifests itself in the centuries to come also with the Papal Bull of Pope Innocent IV in 1254 which reads: “You and your heirs shall be perpetual owners of these concessions assigned to you by the Church of Rome as from now on no one shall be superior to yourselves excepting the Church itself”. In the course of the centuries many illustrious characters belonging to the Ruffo di Calabria family were protagonists of their time. In the 18th century Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo di Calabria went down in history for having defended the Bourbons of Naples leading his own troops into battle. In 1884 Prince Fulco Ruffo di Calabria is born in Naples. An officer in the air force in the first world war, he became a hero and won a gold medal, two silver medals, and four bronze medals for military valour. He married Countess Luisa Gazelli of Turin and had seven children Maria, Laura, Fabrizio, Augusto, Giovannella, Antonello, Paola who in 1993 becomes Queen of the Belgians. In 1961, in Palermo, Don Antonello Ruffo di Calabria marries Countess Rosemarie Tasca d’Almerita from an aristocratic Sicilian family. They have four children: Covella, Lucio, Domitilla and Claudia.