 During the secret armistice talks, Badoglio told Count Pietro Acquarone that he thought he might get better terms if Victor Emmanuel abdicated in favor of Umberto, complaining that the armistice terms that the king wanted were unacceptable to the Allies.Acquarone told Badoglio to keep his views to himself as the king was completely unwilling to abdicate, all the more so as he believed that Umberto was unfit to be king.On 17 August 1943, Sicily was liberated with the last Axis forces crossing over to the Italian mainland.