A hunting lodge on the Amalfi coast in Italy offers a real sense of history - and a real prince

This imposing place was raised 400 years ago as a huge hunting lodge. Now the Palazzo Belmonte belongs to Angelo, the last prince of Belmonte. Kings of Spain and Italy came here to pursue the hapless fauna and relax, away from Madrid and Naples. Today, people from all over the world who enjoy its glorious setting, its discreet apartments and the realisation that they are holidaying in the home of a real prince who they will probably meet, strolling amid the hibiscus, jasmine and oleander of the gardens or out in the pretty harbour town of Santa Maria di Castellabate, which snuggles up against the walls of the palazzo.

The gracious palazzo and the nearby wild coastline of the Punta Licosa are all that remain of the Belmonte estates which once covered swathes of southern Italy and Spain and were famous for their olives and wine which made the family rich and powerful. With this wealth they built a huge, frescoed palace in Naples and consolidated their influence in the region: Belmonte wine filled the cellars of Madrid when Carlo III of Naples became King of Spain.

Apartments, all named after scented herbs and flowers in the five-acre garden, have been carved out of the main building (Angelo keeps to himself on the north side of the palazzo’s courtyard) and others - built discreetly among the cypresses and palms of the gardens - bring the room count to 50. Some, converted from storehouses, still have large iron rings in their high, vaulted ceilings where bails of corn, figs and carob were hung to dry in the breeze off the sea.

Breakfast is taken at a civilised hour at the edge of the pool and the rest of the day is given up to the garden or the private sandy beach, which is reached through a tiny door in the walls. Both lunch and dinner can be enjoyed out in the open under umbrellas on the lovely belvedere with spectacular views out to sea. At night, Capri twinkles romantically in the distance. Seafood is, naturally, a speciality. Be sure to sample the limoncello, made at the palazzo with lemons from the garden.

You might take your car and head for Paestum, the spectacular ruin that lies 45 minutes north of Santa Maria di Castellabate. Three massive temples, built by the Greeks, tower over the  ironing-board flatness of the surrounding marshes that lead to the sea - marshes that once harboured the malaria that drove away the city’s population and left it a romantic, ghostly ruin.

And, here, to complete the parallel with The Leopard, can be found the palazzo’s private chapel. Angelo recalls his grandfather’s strict instructions that all the family and the estate workers should gather here for devotions with the family priest; prayers murmured through slanting rays of sunlight in the still afternoon heat of an Italy long past.