Madly in Love

Plot

Cristina, the princess of a fictional monarchical state named San Tulipe, is visiting Rome with her father, Gustavo VI, who is trying to appeal to Italy's national bank for a loan to buoy his country's financial crisis. Bored and rebellious, Cristina sneaks away from the embassy and decides to engage in a sightseeing tour of the city. On the bus she takes, Cristina meets the driver Barnaba Cecchini, who instantly falls in love with her.

Barnaba, a charming and happy-to-go ATAC employee, takes Cristina around the city, including the Forum Romanum, and slowly begins to win her personal interest. But after having had her fun and spending a (chaste) night in his apartment, she locks him into his clothes dresser's massive drawer and leaves with her family's bodyguards without telling him about her true identity. After a fruitless search on his own, Barnaba recognizes her when he witnesses a TV report about her sojourn in Rome, and despite his modest background he boldly asks her father for her hand. When Gustavo refuses, Barnaba engages in a series of daredevil schemes to prove his worth, even to the point of appearing (by Cristina's invitation) at a royal banquet in his ATAC uniform and holding successful discussions about high politics with a number of international dignitaries.

However, although Barnaba succeeds in impressing Gustavo and winning Cristina's genuine affection, San Tulipe's financial crisis finally drives the king into engaging his daughter to a billionaire. Determined not to lose his love, Barnaba appeals to the citizens of Rome to make a donation for the cause. As Gustavo's family leaves the city, Barnaba's sympathizers shower them with money, thus annulling both the royal debts and Cristina's planned engagement to a stranger, and Barnaba gaining Gustavo's approval to marry his daughter.