In mid-May, the King started to consider exiting the war after being persuaded by Duke Pietro d'Acquarone, Minister of the Royal House, who was worried about the future of the monarchy. Italian public opinion was starting to turn against the monarchy after the King's inaction. At the end of May, two high-ranking politicians of the pre-Fascist age, Ivanoe Bonomi and Marcello Soleri, were received by d'Acquarone and the King's "aide-de-camp", Gen. Puntoni. On 2 and 8 June, they were received in audience by the King where they pressed for the arrest of Mussolini and the nomination of a military government, but they were left frustrated by the monarchical inaction. On 30 June, Bonomi met Crown Prince Umberto and proposed three generals (Ambrosio, Marshal Pietro Badoglio and Enrico Caviglia) as Mussolini's potential successors. On 4 July, Badoglio was received by Umberto, who implied that the Crown was no longer opposed to a change in government. The following day, Ambrosio proposed that the King appoint Badoglio or Caviglia to head any government that replaced Mussolini. Caviglia, a high-ranking freemason, was considered too old for such a difficult task despite his anti-fascist stance. Badoglio, who had resigned as Chief of the General Staff after the Greece debacle in 1941, had become a bitter enemy of Mussolini and wanted revenge. He was a personal friend of Duke d'Acquarone, who had been his "aide-de-camp", and both – like Caviglia – were freemasons. A collaboration between the two Marshals was inconceivable because Caviglia hated Badoglio.