By Frances Kennedy BBC correspondent in Rome

Members of Italy's former royal family, the Savoys, have issued a clear condemnation of Mussolini's race laws, which marked the start of the persecution and deportation of Italian Jews during World War II.

In a statement, the family said the laws approved by the wartime Savoy monarch had left an indelible stain.

The comment coincides with the lifting of a constitutional ban which has kept the male heirs in exile for more than half a century.

The royals are delighted at the ending of their exile

The Italian parliament voted this year to change the constitution and allow the Savoy descendants to return from their affluent exile in Switzerland.

While there is to be no triumphal homecoming just yet, as 64-year-old Vittorio Emanuele is recovering from injuries received in a motor rally accident in Egypt, his son Emanuele Filiberto, a young banker with movie star good looks, has said the family will return before Christmas.

The ban expired on Sunday, which is also the anniversary of the implementation of the 1938 race laws.

All Jewish students were expelled from schools, Jews were banned from public office and forbidden to marry outside their race. The laws led to the eventual deportation of Italian Jews, many of whom died in concentration camps.

Gaffes

The statement is the clearest condemnation yet from a family whose lobbying to lift the ban has been marred by a series of gaffes, in particular by Vittorio Emanuele, who said in a 1997 television interview that the racial laws were not so bad.

He later criticised the Berlusconi government and has refused to swear an oath of loyalty to the Italian Republican constitution.

Opinion polls show that most Italians think the Savoys should no longer have to pay for the sins of their fathers, but not everyone is happy about them becoming celebrities.

Precisely what role the ex-royals might play in Italian public life is unclear.

They have sworn they have no interest in politics, but the Italian media is hungry for the glamour factor: young Emanuele Filiberto is reportedly being courted by state television to host a television series on a journey around Italy.