Ira of Fürstenberg

Here is a tribute to glamorous princess, model and actress Ira of Fürstenberg.

Princess Virginia "Ira" of Fürstenberg (Virginia Carolina Theresa Pancrazia Galdina Prinzessin zu Fürstenberg; born in 1940) is a European socialite, actress, jewelry designer and former public relations manager for the fashion designer Valentino. She is a member by birth of the princely family of Fürstenberg and a former member by marriage of the princely family of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

The daughter of Prince Tassilo zu Fürstenberg and his first wife, Clara Agnelli, she was born in Rome, Italy. Her maternal great-grandmother was an American heiress, Jane Campbell (Princess di San Faustino, by marriage).

Her former sister-in-law is the fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg, and an uncle was Gianni Agnelli, the chairman of FIAT. She is a first cousin of Prince Karel Schwarzenberg, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. She speaks several languages, including Italian, French, German, Spanish and English.

She was reportedly an occasional companion and potential consort of Prince Rainier III of Monaco after the death of his wife, the former Grace Kelly, but premature speculation in the press by her son about the marriage apparently dissuaded the prince from making a proposal. Like the late ruler of Monaco, who was her second cousin, she is a great-grandchild of the Scottish aristocrat Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton, the first wife of Prince Albert I of Monaco. However, Princess Ira is descended from Lady Mary's second marriage with Tassilo Festetics von Tolna, a Hungarian count and later prince. Tassilo's sister, Countess Georgine Ernestine Festetics von Tolna, was the great-grandmother of the current ruler of Liechtenstein, making Princess Ira a third cousin of Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein.

Her first husband, whom she married at Venice, Italy, on 17 September 1955, was Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1924–2003), who founded the Marbella Club, a Spanish resort. At the time of the wedding, the bride was 15 and the groom was 31. They were divorced in 1960, and the marriage was annulled in 1969.

Known for her plush silhouette, sloe eyes, and gift for light comedy, Ira von Fürstenberg (she and her brother Egon changed the "zu" to "von" for use in their public lives, although the former predicate historically implied a noble family's retention of ancestral estates, whereas "von" only suggests family origin) was a sumptuous star of European-made B-movies in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s (she made nearly 30 films).

Her film appearances included the spy spoof Matchless (1968, co-starring Patrick O'Neal), I Killed Rasputin (1967), Dead Run (1967, co-starring Peter Lawford), My Bed Is Not for Sleeping (1968), The Vatican Affair (1968), The Battle of El Alamein (1969), Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970), No desearás al vecino del quinto (1970) and The Fifth Cord (1971).

Enjoy Ira's beautiful looks!

2 excerpts from the movie Negresco (1968)