 The Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini declared that he would not come back to Italy as a subject of the "degenerate king" and more generally as long as the house of Savoy was ruling; Benedetto Croce had previously stated in 1944 that "as long as the present king remains head of state, we feel that Fascism has not ended, (...) that it will be reborn, more or less disguised".In any event, once the referendum's result was certified, Victor Emmanuel and all other male members of the House of Savoy were required to leave the country.Taking refuge in Egypt, where he was welcomed with great honour by King Faruk, Victor Emmanuel died in Alexandria a year later, of pulmonary congestion.