Isabel Pedrejon
Updated Monday, February 19, 2024-23:22
In Spain she is known as a fundamental pillar in the creation of the most glamorous Marbella of the 20th century since she was married to the founder of the Marbella Club, Prince
Alfonso de Hohenlohe.
But Wrath of Fürstenberg was much more. Passed away suddenly on Monday, February 19 in her Roman residence at the
age of 83,
the daughter of Clara Agnelli - sister of Gianni, all-powerful owner of FIAT - and Prince Tassilo von Fürstenberg, soon became
one of the fundamental pieces of the international jet set.
She was 15 years old when Cecil Beaton portrayed her and she married in Venice the prince of German origin, who
was twice her age,
and who was a shock to the social press of the time. She was undoubtedly one of the most iconic links after the end of World War II. She was
the epitome of glamour, class and luxury.
Dalí wanted to paint her naked, but her husband forbade it. Despite her youth, Ira had already learned a lot. Her parents took great pains to educate her in bowing and how to get out of cars in a sophisticated way.
When she separated from Prince Alfonso at the age of twenty, she already had two sons,
Christoph
(1956-2006), who died in Thailand at the age of 49, and
Hubertus
(1959), former Olympic skier, photographer, singer and one of the most renowned partygoers in the world. Costa del Sol. The role of mother was not made for her and she fled to Brazil with her lover and later husband, the playboy
Francisco 'Baby' Pignatari,
from whom she would end up separating in 1964. Since then she lived the crazy life without a steady man , but having fun as only she knew how to do. One of her lovers gave her a palatial apartment in Rome.
She danced with
Frank Sinatra,
dined with
Ronald Reagan,
went shopping with
Audrey Hepburn
and gossiped with the
Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
As a member of that 'beautiful people', depending on the seasons, she frequented Marbella, Monaco, Gstaad, Paris, London or any city that had the greatest concentration of wealth on the planet. Of course, it was essential to have 'good manners'. In Monte Carlo she felt at home.
Rainier III and Grace Kelly
were so close that when the prince was widowed she was told that he wanted to marry Ira. Princess
Margaret of England,
sister of Elizabeth II, was quick to express her viperous and ironic tongue: "Such a great woman for such a small country."
That was Ira. She never went unnoticed. Aware that the golden age of the jet set had passed, she took a backseat where she received her friends at one of her private residences located in various countries. At the Las Monjas farmhouse in Ronda she used to gather great friends from the Marbella of yesteryear because she was always very clear that to meet them on a red carpet advertising anything she preferred to have an evening and chat in a relaxed way. Among them were
Beatriz de Orlenas, Beatriz de Hohenlohe, María Luisa de Prussia or Philippe Junot,
another famous playboy ex-husband of Princess
Carolina of Monaco.
She did the same in her 3 million euro palace that she bought six years ago located in Madrid de los Austrias that had belonged to the famous decorator
Duarte Pinto Coelho.
In his life he did everything.
She was even an actress.
She was not successful, but her name appears in some of the most famous films of Spanish cinema such as
You will not wish for the neighbor from the fifth
(1970) with Alfredo Landa.
Dedicated body and soul to sculpture,
Ira de Fürstenberg created works of art with coral, jade, glass or malachite. On one occasion
Corinna Larsen
(60) bought a piece of hers to give to her lover,
Juan Carlos I
(86).