Princess back in spotlight
Texan is involved in an inheritance dispute in Rome with the children of her late husband over world’s most expensive house
Before she was Her Serene Highness the Principessa Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi, she was Rita Carpenter.
In between, the San Antonio native was Rita Jenrette, the wife of a disgraced congressman who was convicted of bribery and conspiracy as part of the FBI Abscam sting in 1980.
She also famously modeled for Playboy, was an actress, a reporter for tabloid TV programs and a real estate broker. Then she became a princess.
Now the daughter of a millionaire oilman father and scion of a wealthy Texas cattle rancher is back in the spotlight because of an inheritance dispute in Rome with the children of her late husband, His Serene Highness Prince Nicolo Boncompagni Ludovisi.
At stake is the world’s most expensive house, Casino dell’Aurora, a Rome villa that has been in the Ludovisi family for four centuries. The villa, in the heart of Rome, features “Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto,” the only known ceiling painted by Caravaggio.
A “monumental property” on six levels, the listing says it is “among the most prestigious architectural and landscape beauties of pre-unification Rome” with three garages, the Caravaggio, two roof terraces and a “splendid garden with arboreal essences and tall trees, pedestrian paths, stairs and rest areas,” the Associated Press reported.
Villa Aurora sits near the highest point within Rome’s Aurelian Walls and near where some historians believe Julius Caesar hosted Cleopatra at one of his homes, Forbes magazine said in a Dec. 12, article.
An Italian court has ordered that Villa Ludovisi be put up for auction, which is scheduled for Jan. 18.
The asking price: $533 million. (See it at houstonchronicle.com/ villa.)
Rita Carpenter grew up in Terrell Hills and attended Alamo Heights Junior High before she moved to Austin.
Rita Carpenter graduated from the University of Texas with honors with a degree in history and minor in political science.
Her mother said Rita was interested in the Peace Corps but refused an assignment to Micronesia. Instead, she opted to vacation in France for a few months before returning to Texas.
She became immersed in politics and was a research analyst for the state Republican party. In 1975, Rita then met former U.S. Rep. John Jenrette, a Democrat from South Carolina, on the steps of the Capitol in Washington.
They married in 1976 but their marriage ended four years later after Jenrette was convicted of taking bribes.
A few months later, Rita appeared in Playboy. She told a reporter she posed in Playboy because Hugh Hefner agreed to pay her twice was much as Bo Derek.
The decision to bare all was one the future princess regretted.
“I have to establish my credibility now,” she told the Evening News in May 1981. “You will never see me take off a stitch of clothes again, not even a shoe.”
Hollywood called and she appeared in shows like “Fantasy Island” and on tabloid TV programs such as “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” She was also a correspondent for “Current Affair.”
In the Forbes profile published last month, Rita, now 72 years old, talks about how her life changed forever when she entered the New York real estate market and rubbed elbows with the likes of Donald Trump. She met her future husband, Nicolo, in 2002. Business led to romance, romance led to marriage and marriage led to Italy and Casino dell’ Aurora.
Opening up the villa to the world has been her passion for more than a decade. Villa Aurora remains a treasure trove for historians and art lovers.
One art history expert hired by the court to appraise the ceiling, estimated that the Caravaggio mural is worth about $350 million of the house’s astronomical price, according to Forbes.
Nicolo died in 2018, setting the stage for the court battle over the estate.
After the auction goes through in January, she said she might stay in Rome or move to New York.
Forty years ago, she told the San Antonio Star she wanted to settle down. “When I become a bit more successful, I plan to buy a house either in San Antonio or in Austin,” she said.
For now, Ludovisi told AP she hopes the Italian government will acquire the villa so it can remain in the public domain. As an historic site protected by the Culture Ministry, Italy can attempt to match the highest bid at the auction.