What the former novelist (“Conglomerate”, 1985) describes as a great love story, took a plot twist in 2015 when the prince’s second wife, Princess Ludmilla Boncompagni Ludovisi of St. Petersburg, Russia, initiated execution proceedings against the villa, because her ex-husband had stopped paying her alimony.
That was no surprise, according to Prince Bante, one of three sons from Prince Nicolò’s first marriage. He described his father as a drunken layabout who chased women, squandered a fortune and sold family treasures to pay for the minimal renovations necessary. He refers to his father’s widow as Mrs. Carpenter, a “gold digger” who lives in the villa’s “farmers” quarters—and much, much worse.
Prince Bante said he and his brothers, who also dispute the inheritance among themselves, became convinced that Princess Rita did not have their father’s best interests, or longevity, at heart, and that she let him drink himself to death in 2018. pointed out clashes with the law by a brother and a conviction of fraud against another. She called Prince Bante a “borderline personality” who once got her hands on her, an accusation he denies.
The past few years have been a constant struggle for the princess.
In December 2020, as she was recovering at home from a fall that fractured her kneecap and arm, the stepsons, accompanied by officials from Italy’s Ministry of Culture, came in for a random inspection of the villa, which is an Italian cultural treasure. They found a leak and demanded that it be repaired immediately, prompting the princess, she said, to call the restaurateur Nello Balan, namesake of the Manhattan hot spot Nello’s, with whom she has had a romantic relationship. (“We’re very, very good friends,” she said coquettishly.)
She considers the inspection a burglary.
