Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Prince Alfonso
Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Prince Alfonso (right) with brother-in-law Egon von Fürstenberg in 1955
Born (1924-05-28)28 May 1924
Madrid, Spain
Died 21 December 2003(2003-12-21) (aged 79)
Marbella, Spain
Burial Cemetery of Saint Barnabas,
Marbella, Spain
Spouse Ira von Fürstenberg (m.1955–1960)
Jocelyn Lane (m.1973–1985)
Marilys Haynes (1991–2000)
Issue Prince Christoph of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Prince Hubertus of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Princess Arriana of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Désirée zu Hohenlohe
Full name
Alfonso Maximiliano Victorio Eugenio Alejandro María Pablo de la Santísima Trinidad y Todos los Santos
Father Prince Maximilian Egon zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Mother María de la Piedad de Yturbe y von Scholtz-Hermensdorff, Marquesa de Belvís de las Navas

Prince Alfonso Maximiliano Victorio Eugenio Alexandro María Pablo de la Santísima Trinidad y Todos los Santos zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg (28 May 1924 – 21 December 2003) was a businessman known for his promotion of the Spanish resorts of Marbella and the Costa del Sol. He also founded the Marbella Club Hotel.[1]

Background

He was born in Madrid, the eldest son of Prince Maximilian Egon zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg[2] (1897–1968) and his wife, María de la Piedad de Yturbe y von Scholtz-Hermensdorff, Marquesa de Belvís de las Navas (known as Piedita) (1892–1990) daughter of Manuel Adrián de Yturbe y del Villar, Mexican ambassador to St. Petersburg, Vienna, Paris and Madrid, and María de la Trinidad von Scholtz-Hermensdorff y Caravaca, Marquesa de Belvís de las Navas. Hohenlohe came, on his father's side, from a family which traced its history to the twelfth century[3] and were reigning Princes of the Holy Roman Empire in Württemberg until Napoleon I's invasion. His mother Piedad was Marquesa de Belvís de las Navas, granddaughter of Francisco-María de Yturbe, Mexican Minister of Finance, of Basque origin. King Alfonso XIII of Spain was his godfather at a christening in the royal palace.

Alfonso had five siblings, Maria Francesca (known as Pimpinella, his eldest sister, Marquesa de Belvís de las Navas), Alfonso, Christian, Elisabeth, Max Emanuel and Beatrice (known as Teñu).[4]

The hereditary wealth of the Hohenlohe family was depleted in the 20th century. His mother lost estates in the Mexican Revolution; and after the fall of the Third Reich, property in Germany and Czechoslovakia disappeared behind the iron curtain.

Early life

Alfonso was educated by private tutors in Bohemia and Spain, learning fluent German, Spanish, French and English.

After World War II, the prince started to buy land in Marbella in 1947. He sold plots to various rich and powerful friends including the likes of the Rothschild and Thyssen families. In 1954 he created the Marbella Club, the Costa del Sol's first luxury hotel, attracting many celebrities of the time to the former fishing village.[1]

The family fortune was replenished by Alfonso's marriage in 1955 to the 15-year-old Austrian-Italian Princess Ira von Fürstenberg, a Fiat heiress. The bride's youth evoked some scandal in high society, but the couple had obtained a papal dispensation for the marriage and 400 guests attended a 16-day wedding party. Five years later the marriage was dissolved by divorce in Mexico City after Ira left him to marry another notorious 1950s playboy, Francisco "Baby" Pignatari, another dispensation being obtained, this time for an annulment, from the Church in 1969.[3]

Later life

After the divorce, the prince had much-publicised relationships with actresses Ava Gardner and Kim Novak. In 1973 he married actress Jocelyn Lane. This too was a stormy partnership, and ended in divorce in 1985.[1]

In the 1990s, the property speculator Jesus Gil y Gil became mayor of Marbella and the town entered a construction boom. The prince pulled out, selling his shares in the Marbella Club due to the area's increasing association with Arab arms traffickers and Russian mafia, whose conspicuous consumption was peppered with violence. He moved to the town of Ronda and successfully turned his efforts to wine-making, with a new wife, Marilys Haynes.[1] His last wife died on 2 November 2000, apparently taking her own life, the same year he learned he had prostate cancer.[5]

Marriages

Death

He died in Marbella on 21 December 2003.[1]

Ancestry

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Elizabeth Nash (24 December 2003). "Obituaries: Prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe". The Independent. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  2. ↑ María Piedad de Iturbe, marquesa de Belvis de las Navas. Geneall. Retrieved on 27 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser XV, C.A. Starke Verlag, 1997, pp.227–239.
  4. ↑ Royal Musings 30 September 2008. Royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com. Retrieved on 27 July 2015.
  5. ↑ "El otoño del "rey" de la fiesta" (in Spanish). El Mundo. 5 November 2000. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
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