FROM PLAYMATE TO PRINCIPESSA

One feisty Texan’s journey from San Antonio to Rome.

1980

Rita and then-husband Rep. John Jenrette, just before his conviction as a result of the Abscam scandal.

1981

After separating from Jenrette, Rita posed for Playboy. The headline read, “The Liberation of a Congressional Wife.”

1981

She bared all, then she told all in a memoir that scandalized Capitol Hill. A novel, Conglomerate, followed in 1985.

2009

In marrying Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi of Piombino, a pinup becomes a princess.

2022

The couple restored the Baroque mansion Villa Aurora (pictured) to its former glory. It failed to sell for $534 million in January, and a second auction is set for April, this time at a discount.