 Mussolini had assured the king that the "Regio Esercito" could hold Sicily, and the poor performance of the Italian forces defending Sicily helped to persuade the king to finally dismiss Mussolini as Umberto informed his father that "Il Duce" had lied to him.On 16 July 1943, the visiting papal assistant secretary of state told the American diplomats in Madrid that King Victor Emmanuel III and Prince Umberto were now hated by the Italian people even more than Mussolini.By this time, many Fascist "gerarchi" had become convinced that it was necessary to depose Mussolini to save the Fascist system, and on the night of 24–25 July 1943, at a meeting of the Fascist Grand Council a motion introduced by the "gerarchi" Dino Grandi to take away Mussolini's powers was approved by a vote of 19 to 8.