Rita Jenrette, or Princess Rita Boncompagni-Ludovisi — the Texas-born model-turned-Italian-princess by marriage — was evicted on Thursday from her longtime Italian mansion after being accused of failing to preserve the historic property.
Jenrette, 73, married her husband, Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi, in 2009. When he died in 2019, her three stepsons accused her of trying to steal their inheritance and letting the mansion deteriorate.
The property, known as Villa Aurora, is widely regarded as the most expensive home in the world — having gone up for auction last January for a whopping $531 million.
Last year, an auction was decided by the Italian government with the proceeds to be split among the four of them.
Located in the heart of Rome, the property’s high price can be attributed to its art — it contains the world’s only ceiling mural by Caravaggio. The Italian painter of the late 1500s and early 1600s was known for his paintings such as “Sick Bacchus,” “The Musicians,” “Head of the Medusa,” “The Conversion of St. Paul,” “The Entombment of Christ” and “The Beheading of St. John.”
But after failing to lure a bidder, the home is expected to go up for auction again at a later date.
Jenrette, her husband’s third wife, was evicted by police after a court ruled that she allowed an exterior wall on property to crumble —despite images showing it still standing.
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Before her notoriety as an Italian royal, Jenrette had been in the American socialite scene for decades.
Born in San Antonio, Texas, she first received her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Texas in 1971.
Two years later, she became the director of research for the Republican Party of Texas. In 1976 she would go on to marry Democratic whip John Jenrette of South Carolina only a year and a half after meeting him on Capitol Hill.
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In the 1980’s the late Roger Ailes, who was the head honcho of Fox News, offered her a position as a Washington television correspondent — but she declined.
In 1981, she divorced her husband after he was convicted of taking a bribe during the Abscam investigation —an FBI sting operation that led to the convictions of seven members of United States Congress on charges of bribery and corruption.
Jenrette later alerted officials to $25,000 she found in her husband’s closet, which she said was part of the Abscam money.
Due to the Abscam scandal, Jenrette took the opportunity to give an interview to Playboy that appeared in the April 1981 issue about the incidents involving her husband, accompanied by a nude pictorial.
In the interview, shocking revelations included her admitting that she and her husband, John, had sex on the steps of the US Capitol during a break in an all-night House session. She claimed that was still “happily married” at the time of the interview, it sent shockwaves around the nation — although the two had already been separated.
Three years later, she would go on to appear on the cover of the May 1984 issue of Playboy.
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From 1981 to 1992, she launched her acting career, and appeared in a few films and television series.
In 1994 she would enter the real estate game, and was once noted in Crain’s magazine as a “Power Broker New York Style.”
Five years later, in 1999, she sued Simon Properties for $6 million for failing to pay her a commission on the $800 million sale of the General Motors Building to Donald Trump. But Simon Properties agreed on a settlement before the case went to trial.
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In 2003, Jenrette completed an Executive Management Program at Harvard Business School. That same year she would go on to meet her second husband, her Italian prince, while he was still married to his second wife.
Prince Ludovisi of Piombino had been married three times in total.
When they married in 2009, they moved to Villa Aurora, which has been in his family since the 16th century.
Together, they went on to renovate the home, later opening it to the public, giving tours and hosting charitable events.
She had planned to return to New York and to keep a smaller villa in Rome, according to reports. And despite it all, she had promised to continue advocating for the property through her late husband’s charity.
“There’s so many things underneath the ground here, you have no idea,” she said. “There are more paintings to uncover and more secrets. In the late 16th century, Galileo Galilei was here and he gave a telescope to my husband’s family. It’s here. I know where it is. But we have to uncover it. There’s just so many exciting things for the new person to discover if they have a mind to.”
