Illeana Valeria, Cazique Giarelle
| Illeana Valeria Giarelle | |
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| Cazique Giarelle | |
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| Reign | 26 December 2010 - Present |
| Ascension | 27 December 2010 |
| Predecessor | Vittorie Nicolo Giarelle |
| Sinizialke | Leandre k'Ordiane |
| Born | 6 June 1996 Eporte Vir, Sante Reze |
| Spouse(s) | Robyrt Krynnur (m. 2011 – 2014) (his death) Prince Baldwin of Ghant (m. 2018 - present) |
| Father | Vittorio Giarelle |
| Mother | Ilarie Giarelle |
| Occupation | Director, Azende Generale Vir; Cazique Giarelle |
| Ghantish Imperial Family |
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Extended imperial family
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Personal Life
Early Life
Illeana was named after Ileana Giarelle née Zoagle, one of the three founding members of the house Giarelle. She was born in Eporte Vir at the Giarelle estate.
Christmas Massacre
Between the hours of 3 A.M. and 5 A.M. on Christmas Day of 2010, a large, concerted strike against the Giarelle family succeeded in removing hundreds of Giarelle officials, including the majority of the main branch of the family. The only survivors of the main line were Illeana, her mother Ilaria, and her brother Nicolo; Ilaria was determined to be a suicide risk and otherwise mentally unstable, and was deemed incapable of leadership; Nicolo lapsed into a coma after a gunshot wound to the head, leaving Illeana as the only capable member of the main line.
Illeana accepted leadership of House Giarelle the next day following a chaotic period during which no one was sure who had survived. Her official ascension to the ducdom was a low-key ceremony with only trusted family witnesses on the 26th of December, and she became the youngest power-player in Rezese society.
Due to the deaths of every director and senior officer of the Giarelle umbrella corporation Azende Generale Vir, Illeana also became a director of the corporation and the CEO, though she immediately stepped down from her executive office due to lack of experience and knowledge to be able fulfill her duties. She appointed her sinizialke, the household's majordomo, as CEO to oversee the transition.
Education
Illeana attended an elite Kirizyuntupao school until the age of fourteen. After the Christmas Massacre, she dropped out of the school and pardoned herself with her newfound powers as Cazique Giarelle from the legal requirement for completion of secondary school, and from the requirement to attend post-secondary education or enter into military service.
Family
Illeana is the third daughter and youngest child of the late Vittorie Giarelle, Cazique Giarelle and Lady Ilaria Giarelle. She had three brothers and two sisters, four of which were killed during the Christmas Massacre. Her surviving brother is Nicolo Giarelle, an inactive lieutenant colonel in the carabinieri.
She did not have any children with her first husband, Robyrt Krynnur. She became engaged to Prince Baldwin of Ghant, a first cousin of Nathan IV of Ghant, after meeting Nathan and one of Nathan's other cousins, Isaac, in 2016. Isaac was initially put forward by Nathan to marry Illeana, but this changed to Baldwin for reasons that were not disclosed. At the time, Illeana had not met Baldwin, and it would take several months for them to actually see each other in person for the first time. They married in November of 2018, four years after Robert's death.
Illeana's niece Mirelle, the daughter of Nicolo, is known to be very close to Illeana, and is currently her designated heir.
Controversy
Despite having ascended at the age of fourteen, six months prior to reaching age of majority, Illeana did not appoint a regent, and there was no one left in the house who had the ability to appoint one for her. Her actions during the first six months, then, are considered unauthorized and even illegal, though no attempts to prosecute were made. Several attempts to usurp the ducdom were made, though all failed; two of the failures resulted in the disappearance of the attempted usurper under uncertain circumstances. This has led to rumors about their murder or unlawful exile from the nation by Illeana and her supporters. To date, however, no evidence of any crime has been found.
The pardoning of herself as Cazique Giarelle from having to complete secondary school and from additionally having to attend post-secondary education or enter into military service has resulted in continual criticism from sources both outside and within House Giarelle. While the move was not illegal or disallowed, it was seen by many as an abuse of the system and a strike against one of the most important traditions in Rezese society, as well as a sign that Illeana was more than willing to use her position for her personal gain. More academic criticism has also attacked her ability to run a great house without having completed her formal education.
To date, seventeen attempts to reject her legitimacy as Cazique Giarelle have been put forth in the Korik Signorun, but only one has gained enough support to reach vote. Despite the support, however, it failed to garner enough votes to pass. The question of what would have happened had it passed was also never fully answered, as any household has the right to select their own cazique and representatives from the Giarelle delegation universally voted it down, despite some of them voting to bring the motion forward. The contradictory votes is by some said to have been a move to prevent further attempts, as failing at vote means a motion is rarely brought back to vote if tried again.
In November 2014, it was reported that Robyrt Krynnur died in a glider accident in Eporte Tolle. Not long after, rumors regarding his murder surfaced and there was some evidence of tampering with the glider, which had mostly survived the impact with the ground. Opposition parties accused Illeana of having him killed once he had served his practical purpose (providing an of-age duke while she was still under-aged herself). Authorities questioned why Illeana would resort to murder to remove the man from his position when he was a foreigner capable of being exiled without legal ramifications, and why it would have come so late had it been that Robyrt no longer served a purpose following Illeana's fifteenth birthday. No legal action against Illeana or House Giarelle was pursued, however, especially after Robyrt's family requested the investigation cease out of respect.
Ancestors
The Giarelle family boasts direct lineage from House Zoagloie, a contemporary of the Royal House of Promontoroie. They also claim direct lineage from Livi Savine, Prinzip Rezese, but historical records indicate that Livi had no meaningful blood relation to the Zoagle siblings from whom the bloodline of House Giarelle derives. These siblings were Niccolo and Ileana Zoagle, both of whom changed their names to Giarelle following the dissolution of the kingdom. Niccolo did not marry nor produce issue, and Ileana's children were well-documented by contemporary sources.
There is some debate in academic circles as to whether or not Ileana's daughter, Ziara Giarelle, was actually a product of incest, citing resentful nobles and outside enemies as the source of rumors of an illicit affair between Ileana and her brother Niccolo. If the rumor was false, then Ziara was the daughter of Umbere Promontore, which brings Duchessa Illeana Giarelle closer to the Royal House, but still removes her from being direct descendants of Livi Giarelle. A minority opinion within this circle is actually that Ziara was Livi's daughter, as there is scant evidence to prove whose mother she was due to the family's seclusion during the period, which these proponents take as strong indication that the parentage of Ziara was purposefully obscured. The only evidence in favor of Ziara being Ileana's daughter is that of contemporary sources assumptions that she was because that was how the family acted in public. If this minority's hypothesis is correct, then House Giarelle exists as a continuance of House Promontoroie. Critics of this, however, are quick to point out that there is no known reason to obscure Ziara's true parentage, and none of the trio left any indications in private writings even to each other.
Another such debate comes from the actual parentage of Niccolo, Ileana, and their younger siblings, whose mother some records say is up for question. One or more of the last generation of House Zoagloie could in fact have had a different mother, with evidence hidden as best as possible by their recognized parents. This mother would be Vitalia Verante, of the last generation of House Verantoie, another House Promontoroie contemporary, and sister to Lorenze Verante who was Livi Giarelle's husband.