2023-04-20 20:06:00
Texas-born US Princess Rita Jenrette crammed her four Bichon Frize dogs into a taxi on Thursday following being evicted, following a bitter inheritance dispute, from a historic villa in Rome that contains the only ceiling known painted by Caravaggio.
The property has been at the center of an estate dispute between Princess Rita and the sons of her ex-husband, who died in 2018. As part of the family dispute, it had previously been auctioned for 471 million euros, but did not attract any offers.
In a video posted on social media, Princess Rita said she was “brutally evicted from a home she has lovingly cared for for 20 years”, adding that the move was “illegal” and “unnecessary”. “Someone said this happened to me because I’m a woman and I’m American – I don’t know,” she said, before adding that it was “a matter of money, of course”.
The eviction notice was issued in January by a court in Rome, which said Princess Rita had failed to maintain the building following the collapse of an exterior wall. The court also said she violated an earlier order barring her from paying tours of the mansion.
The Princess told Archyde.com news agency in January that the visits had been organized to raise funds for the upkeep.
The legal battle began in 2018 following the death of Prince Nicolo Ludovisi Boncompagni, a descendant of Pope Gregory XIII, who had been the head of the family that owned Villa Aurora for generations. The Princess Rita dispute concerns Prince Nicolo’s three sons from his first marriage.
With the eviction, those years of legal battle also come to an end. Rita’s fairytale marriage to Prince Nicolò, a scion of the noble Roman Boncompagni Ludovisi family, lasted from 2009 until his death in 2018. She was his third wife.
Prince Nicolò had stipulated in his will that his beloved Rita might continue to live in the villa until her death, much to the chagrin of his sons. His three sons, who still owed their father money, intended to sell the villa but Rita once more disagreed.
A judge in Rome ruled in favor of the three Boncompagni Ludovisi brothers and in January 2022 the villa was put up for auction. Minimum asking price: 471 million euros. Despite rumors that the Sultan of Brunei and Bill Gates are interested, the villa has yet to be sold. Even following four more sales attempts and a price reduction of around 140 million, the house is still for sale.
Last December, part of the wall that surrounds the garden collapsed, providing further grounds for the three brothers to evict their mother-in-law from the villa, alleging unfollowing maintenance. Once once more, a judge in Rome ruled in favor of the noble brothers and in January of this year ordered the 72-year-old Texan to vacate Villa Aurora within sixty days. Princess Rita, however, remained angry where she sat. Until the police arrive this morning, Thursday April 20, 2023.
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