 As Regent, Umberto initially made a poor impression on almost everyone as he surrounded himself with Fascist-era generals as his advisers, spoke of the military as the basis of his power, frequently threatened to sue for libel anyone who made even the slightest critical remarks about the House of Savoy, and asked the ACC to censor the press to prevent the criticism of himself or his father.The British foreign secretary Anthony Eden wrote after meeting Umberto in a message to London that he was "the poorest of poor creatures", and his only qualification for the throne was that he had more charm than his charmless father.The historian and philosopher Benedetto Croce, a minister in the Badoglio cabinet, called Umberto "entirely insignificant" as he found the crown prince to be shallow, vain, superficial, and of low intelligence, and alluding to his homosexuality stated his private life was "tainted by scandal".