[ sangue di sovranità ]

prince tommaso, heir to the throne of italy, and prince of tuscany ( i know that this isn’t the usual title of the heir but since this is house of medici, and not house of savoy, i’ve took artistic liberties ) is the firstborn child of the king of italy and his first wife. therefore the responsibility of ruling has always been at the forefront of his mind — fully prepared to rule, as well as be married off for the benefit of his country.

while his father comes from a long noble line, his mother was a member of staff in the family’s household, and the two caused quite a scandal for the family. it was only when she became pregnant that the pair were married to save any further ‘embarrassment’ to  the soon-to-be king of the home of catholicism.

tw: miscarriage. this baby was lost, and placed strain on the marriage. the family didn’t like his mother already so this was another thing that they blamed her for. still, when she became pregnant again ( several years later ) and produced a healthy son, some favour was restored — mostly to the marriage. his mother loved him deeply, but also understood that by putting tommaso into the primary care of his grandmother ( and father ) that he would be protected. 

tw: religion. catholic boy™, from his education to his duties as a royal, the religion was forced upon tommaso from birth. his grandmother followed most of the old school rules, which led to him having a similar — still, he doesn’t follow the book word-for-word ( well, at least now he is older ) because there are certain aspects that he doesn’t agree with. 

there was no homeschooling or private tutors for tommaso, who was sent off to boarding school at around age six, the same time his mother became pregnant with his younger sister. it was something he was initially upset about, yet eventually it allowed him to find some independence from the family, and develop friendships away from royal life. he developed a sense of what was going on in his country – not only through his lessons, but the people that he encountered. this was supplemented by royal duties he had to undertake. 

being away from home meant that tommaso was not aware of the marital issues of his parents, though as he got older, it was obvious that things were not all peachy in the royal household. whilst it didn’t fix anything between his parents, tommaso became even closer to his mother through the lack of communication from the other family members. between himself and his sister, they were able to make sure that their mother did not feel so lonely. still, it did not stop their father from having an affair, or prevent the hurt that it caused the queen.

the childhood that he had made him very self-disciplined; comfortable in his position and kept him willing to faithfully serve until his time comes to lead. this provided him with patience and seriousness, but he is not completely cold. there is empathy towards his subjects, and attempts to assist; his own personal life is closed off in comparison. aside from that, tommaso has pretty good judgement and will evaluate everything before making a rash decision.

tw: suicide. nine years ago, tommaso went to visit his mother ( who had been sent to sicily to recover from royal duties ) though she was unaware of the visit, believing her son was still in university. upon his arrival, he was told that his mother was resting, but that he could surprise her by awaking her. it was when he entered the room that he realised something wasn’t right — eventually finding his mother, who had taken her own life. 

for the sake of appearances, the death was ruled as a heart-attack, though the family knew otherwise — something that angered tommaso greatly, as it felt almost dismissed, with his father rushing into the arms of his lover. the prince showed great empathy to his subjects during this time, especially those who respected his mother. it earned him favour, though took its toll mentally.

tw: drug abuse. to get himself through the final months of university ( as well as royal duties ) his doctors prescribed sleeping pills as he was unable to sleep. there weren’t many side effects, if anything, tommaso felt amazing once he’d taken his pills and had a ( somewhat ) peaceful nights sleep. it was only when he was taken off them that he realised that he had become dependent to them; unable to fall asleep without them. his doctors decided to wean him off them slowly, among several different attempts to get him to ditch the pills. though the prince continued to quit several times, he found himself back on the pills relatively quickly, and using unconventional ways to get them. 

now that he is in buckingham, tommaso is keen to try and quit again, but isn’t entirely confident that it will happen. he has gained much favour in italy for being their “golden boy” and believes that a marriage will secure this. his succession to the throne and his future marriage is the reason that he wants to get clean — hoping to overthrow his father for the treatment of his mother.