Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis

Gloria
Princess of Thurn und Taxis
Gloria and her late husband, Johannes, 11th Prince of Thurn and Taxis.
Born Mariae Gloria Ferdinanda Joachima Josephine Wilhelmine Huberta Graefin von Schönburg-Glauchau
(1960-02-23) 23 February 1960
Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
Spouse Johannes, 11th Prince of Thurn and Taxis
Issue Princess Maria Theresia von Thurn und Taxis
Princess Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis
Albert, 12th Prince of Thurn and Taxis
Full name
Mariae Gloria Ferdinanda Joachima Josephine Wilhelmine Huberta Prinzessin von Thurn und Taxis
House Schönburg-Glauchau
Father Joachim, Count von Schönburg-Glauchau
Mother Countess Beatrix Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék
Religion Roman Catholic[1]

Mariae Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis (Mariae Gloria Prinzessin von Thurn und Taxis, born Mariae Gloria Ferdinanda Joachima Josephine Wilhelmine Huberta Gräfin von Schönburg-Glauchau,[2][3][4] 23 February 1960) is a German socialite, businesswoman, artist[5] and member, by marriage, of the German princely House of Thurn and Taxis.[6] Her edgy attire, whirlwind and international social life made her a social icon in the 1980s, and she became widely known as the "punk princess." She was also called "Princess TNT" by Vanity Fair, a play on the name Thurn and Taxis and the explosive TNT. Since the 1990s she has become a conservative Roman Catholic activist and philanthropist.

Biography

She was born Gloria, Countess of Schönburg-Glauchau, and is the daughter of Joachim, Count of Schönburg-Glauchau and of Countess Beatrix Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék. She is a member of the Schönburg family, a mediatised house that formerly held sovereignty.[3] She has a diverse heritage and is mainly of German, Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Russian and Greek descent; she is descended from many of the most prominent Czech, Hungarian and Russian noble families, notably including the families Széchenyi, Chotek, Kinsky, and Golitsyn. Her brother, Alexander, Count of Schönburg-Glauchau, is a bestselling writer and journalist. Her sister, Countess Maya von Schönburg-Glauchau, is a German socialite.

Much of her youth was spent in Togo and Somalia in Africa, where her father was an author and journalist.[3] Although a countess by birth, her family had little money, and she had worked as a waitress in the Swiss ski resort, St Moritz, before marrying in 1980 her 4th cousin twice removed, Johannes, 11th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, who was born in 1926 and possessed a fortune estimated at between US$2 and US$3 billion.[7][8] They are both descended from Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis. The Thurn and Taxis family, originally named Tasso, is of Lombard origin.

Gloria's frank exuberance, lavish spending, edgy attire and a whirlwind, international social life with her husband made her a social icon in the 80s, garnering her such sobriquets in media as the "punk princess" and "Princess TNT".[8] On Johannes's death, however, the spending came to a halt as US$500 million was owed on the estate he left behind.[8] Acting as trustee for her son, Gloria went into isolation to study finance, accounting and estate management, sold off jewelry, castles, cars, and land to preserve the family fortune, and undertook a spiritual pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in Lourdes, France from which she emerged a sobered Roman Catholic activist and philanthropist.[8][9]

The couple had three children:[3]

In 2001, she was severely criticized for stating in a talkshow that the high rate of AIDS in African countries was due not to a lack of safe sex practices but to the fact that "the blacks like to copulate ('schnackseln') a lot". In 2008, she said in an interview that Africans have a lot of sex because of Africa's higher temperatures.[13]

Gloria has become a successful artist, focusing mainly on portraits done with oil paint and pastel. The Hotel Chelsea asked her to do a series of pastels of its most famous denizens—a gallery show which brought her much acclaim as a painter.[14][15][16]

Titles, styles and honours

Styles[3]

Since former hereditary titles are only recognised in German law as part of the surname in accordance with the Weimar Constitution of 1919, family members include the title as an integral part of their name in the form, Prinz/essin von Thurn und Taxis. The following are merely styles, not titles, under obsolete conventions.

  • 23 February 1960 - 30 May 1980: Her Illustrious Highness Countess Gloria of Schönburg-Glauchau
  • 30 May 1980 - 14 December 1990: Her Serene Highness Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis
  • 14 December 1990 – Present: Her Serene Highness Gloria, Dowager Princess of Thurn and Taxis

Honours

Dynastic honours

German National honours

Foreign honours

Ancestry[3]

Notable published works

  • Unsere Umgangsformen. Die Welt der guten Sitten von A-Z - with Princess Alessandra Borghese - (2000).[31] ISBN 9783806875799
  • Gloria: Die Fürstin - Im Gespräch mit Peter Seewald (2005).[32] ISBN 9783453380004
  • Die Fürstin und der Kardinal - with Cardinal Joachim Meisner - (2008).[33] ISBN 9783451298714

References

  1. ↑ Colacello, Bob. "The Conversion of Gloria TNT".
  2. ↑ Willis, Daniel. The Descendants of King George I of Great Britain. Clearfield, 2002, Baltimore, US. p. 516. ISBN 0-8063-5172-1.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels: Furstliche Hauser Band XIX. Limburg an der Lahn: C. A. Starke Verlag. 2011. pp. 365, 367, 369, 382–383, 385–386. ISBN 978-3-7980-0849-6.
  4. ↑ In 1919 royalty and nobility were mandated to lose their privileges in Germany, hereditary titles were to be legally borne thereafter only as part of the surname, according to Article 109 of the Weimar Constitution. Styles such as majesty and highness were not retained.
  5. ↑ "Remember You Well at the Chelsea Hotel: Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis Has an Art Show, Rides a Motorcycle". 10 June 2014.
  6. ↑ Blasberg, Derek. "How a Jet-Setting Socialite Saved One of Europe's Most Stunning Castles". Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  7. ↑ d'Elora, Camille (31 January 1995). "Point de Vue". Gloria von Thurn und Taxis: La Mal Aimée (in French). p. 5.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "The Conversation of Gloria TNT". Vanity Fair. June 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  9. ↑ Magazine, W. "Gloria Takes Manhattan: Gloria von Thurn und Taxis".
  10. ↑ Tutzing, Jana Stegemann (14 September 2014). "Hochzeits-Ausflug in die Provinz" – via Sueddeutsche.de.
  11. ↑ "Hochzeit im Hause Thurn und Taxis - Maria Theresia heiratet Hugo Wilson".
  12. 1 2 Maria Theresia Ludowika Klothilde Helene Alexandra Prinzessin von Thurn und Taxis The Peerage.
  13. ↑ "Gloria von Thurn und Taxis: Die Fürstin von Punk bis Papst".
  14. ↑ Moehringer, J.R. "Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis Would Like to Paint Your Portrait".
  15. ↑ Murphy, Anna (21 September 2014). "Gloria von Thurn und Taxis: whatever became of the 'punk princess'?" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  16. ↑ "Opening of Gloria von Thurn und Taxis's Show - artnet News". 10 June 2014.
  17. ↑ "Photo" (PDF). 40.media.tumblr.com.
  18. ↑ "altro - die fotoagentur : 01445-08". Altrofoto.de. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  19. ↑ "altro - die fotoagentur : 01449-08". Altrofoto.de. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  20. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-07-23. Retrieved 2015-07-19.
  21. 1 2 Images, Gloria wearing the two mini now formed orders
  22. ↑
  23. ↑
  24. ↑ Acta Apostolicae Sedis Archived March 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  25. ↑ "altro - die fotoagentur : 01464-08". Altrofoto.de. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  26. ↑ "altro - die fotoagentur : 01466-08". Altrofoto.de. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  27. ↑ http://clemensmayer-foto.de/fileadmin/user_images/work/reportage/021_thurnundtaxis.jpg%5Bpermanent+dead+link%5D
  28. ↑ Order of Malta Archived 2013-10-04 at the Wayback Machine.
  29. ↑ "Photo" (PDF). www.tonyassante.com. 2005.
  30. ↑ Theroff, Paul. "Széchényi". www.angelfire.com.
  31. ↑ "Unsere Umgangsformen - Die Welt der guten Sitten von A-Z de Gloria von/ Borghese, Alessandra Thurn und Taxis: Falken, Niedernhausen, 2000 9783806875799 - medimops". www.iberlibro.com.
  32. ↑ "Detalles del libro". www.iberlibro.com.
  33. ↑ "Detalles del libro". www.iberlibro.com.

Media related to Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis at Wikimedia Commons

Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis
House of Schönburg-Glauchau
Cadet branch of the House of Schönburg
Born: 23 February 1960
German nobility
Preceded by
Princess Isabel Maria of Braganza		 Princess of Thurn and Taxis
26 April 1982 – 14 December 1990		 Succeeded by
Vacant
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.