Noble crimes


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Debbies

Aristocracy
Joined
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City
Milano
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Italy
I think interesting starting this thread to collect stories of royals and nobility getting in trouble with the law... the idea came thanks to today's news regarding Swiss Baron Philip Dolfus De Volckersberg, in house arrest in Italy pending judgment on a large money-laundering activity between Switzerland and Italy and his clients including some Italian nobility such as: Francesco Caltagirone Bellavista, prince Augusto Ruffo di Calabria and Vitaliano Borromeo. His clients are not under charge (yet).
The Baron is accused of having helped his clients with illegal transfers of money overseas. Most of the money is reportedly from tax evasion, bribery or laundering via a network of companies located in tax heavens. :whistling:

Scarcerato il barone Dollfus, accusato di «gestire holding del riciclaggio» - Corriere.it
 
That would be tax "havens" not "heavens" though, if you get away with it, it can be heaven.:ermm:

At any rate, I can only think of Pierre Casiroghi(sp?) and the bar fight he got into in NY a few years ago. I think he had to pay a fine and restitution to his victim. There were two other rich young guys with him but I can't even remember their names. I think he has matured considerably since then. At least I hope so.

P.S.: In American we don't read or hear much about royalty except for the British and sometimes Monaco and maybe a wedding now and then. So, unless there's murder involved, I wouldn't know a thing about a royal person breaking the law. A little money laundering in Italy wouldn't even make the back page of a U.S. newspaper.
 
Prince Carl jr. of Sweden was involved in a highly publicised court case in the late 50s for being part of an attempt to defraud an elderly woman of her castle and estates. In spite of Carl's confession he was acquitted because the court found him not sane with regards to his actions. He soon left Sweden for Spain where he lived for the rest of his life.


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Royals and nobles who committed crimes...where to start...the first who come to my mind are (staying in Italy):
Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy killed a German boy, Dirk Hamer, in 1978;
Camillo Casati Stampa di Soncino, Marquess of Casate, in 1970 killed his wife Anna Fallarino and her lover Massimo Minorenti; it was a huge scandal at the time;
Baron Vincenzo Paternò del Cugno in 1911 killed his mistress, Countess Giulia Trigona di Sant'Elia (née Mastrogiovanni Tasca), and then tried to shot himself but survived; it caused also a huge scandal, because Countess Giulia Trigona was a lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Italy (who had previously attempted many times to persuade the Countess to end the relationship with Baron Paternò).
 
I suppose the marquis de Sade would count as a criminal. He was imprisoned for sodomy and poisoning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquis_de_Sade#Scandals_and_imprisonment

***

I don't believe countess Margit Batthyany, nee Thyssen ever got convicted but she had Jewish prisoners shot for fun during her dinner parties.


The killer countess: The dark past of Baron Heinrich Thyssen's daughter - Profiles - People - The Independent

According to a great niece her involvement is not quite so clear and she claims that there is no evidence for it. Something which is contested by the author of the article directly above.
The Batthyany Conspiracy: All Innocent On The Eastern Front | David R. L. Litchfield
 
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I've often wondered who was really behind the murder of the Princes in the Tower and of Arthur I, Duke of Brittany and if we shall ever know the truth!
 
One of the most famous noble-related crimes here in the UK was the murder of Sandra Rivett and subsequent disappearance of Lord Lucan back in 1974. It is a fascinating story and full of mysteries and red herrings that no one can be 100% sure whether he committed the crime or not, or whether he escaped abroad or died trying to.
 
That would be tax "havens" not "heavens" though, if you get away with it, it can be heaven.:ermm:

At any rate, I can only think of Pierre Casiroghi(sp?) and the bar fight he got into in NY a few years ago. I think he had to pay a fine and restitution to his victim. There were two other rich young guys with him but I can't even remember their names. I think he has matured considerably since then. At least I hope so.

P.S.: In American we don't read or hear much about royalty except for the British and sometimes Monaco and maybe a wedding now and then. So, unless there's murder involved, I wouldn't know a thing about a royal person breaking the law. A little money laundering in Italy wouldn't even make the back page of a U.S. newspaper.

Wow thank you guys, looks like a Pandora's Box has opened! :ROFLMAO:
Sure that we wish to open the Casiraghi file? Those boys made a number of petty things here and there, Pierre was caught spraying walls in Milan but got just a parking fine, while Andrea was aggressive with the local police in Rome when drunk.
The money laundering of the Swiss Baron is reportedly quite huge, regarding "tax heavens"... well in Italy they are just called "paradisi fiscali" ;)
 
Mslewis wait a minute.... in the US you had the Klaus Von Bulow case, he was trialled for killing his rich American wife. There is a movie with Jeremy Irons about this case. I think he was a German aristocrat. ;)
 
During 2nd World War, Count Guido Casati Stampa belonged to the "Koch gang" or "banda Koch" a fascist group who used to capture, torture and kill Italian Jews in a small villa in Milan. The Casati Stampa hits our list twice...
 
That would be tax "havens" not "heavens" though, if you get away with it, it can be heaven.:ermm:

At any rate, I can only think of Pierre Casiroghi(sp?) and the bar fight he got into in NY a few years ago. I think he had to pay a fine and restitution to his victim. There were two other rich young guys with him but I can't even remember their names. I think he has matured considerably since then. At least I hope so.

P.S.: In American we don't read or hear much about royalty except for the British and sometimes Monaco and maybe a wedding now and then. So, unless there's murder involved, I wouldn't know a thing about a royal person breaking the law. A little money laundering in Italy wouldn't even make the back page of a U.S. newspaper.

Actually, Pierre paid not a cent to anyone because he was not the aggressor in the bar incident. Adam Hock is the man who physically assaulted Pierre and sent him to a hospital. Hock was arrested and was charged formally with assault and battery. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in order to avoid a criminal trial.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Hock

Incidentally, Hock had the gall to try and go to Monaco on holiday in 2014. Prince Albert had him seized and escorted to the border with firm instructions to never again set foot in the Principality of Monaco, or he would be put in prison.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Princess-Graces-grandson-nightclub-brawl.html

Ahhh...the perks of having an uncle who wields absolute power;)!
 
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One of the most famous noble-related crimes here in the UK was the murder of Sandra Rivett and subsequent disappearance of Lord Lucan back in 1974. It is a fascinating story and full of mysteries and red herrings that no one can be 100% sure whether he committed the crime or not, or whether he escaped abroad or died trying to.

Yees, this one is eerie

An interview with his son

Where is Lord Lucan? Mystery that still refuses to disappear 40 years on - Mirror Online
 
Mslewis wait a minute.... in the US you had the Klaus Von Bulow case, he was trialled for killing his rich American wife. There is a movie with Jeremy Irons about this case. I think he was a German aristocrat. ;)

So true. I forgot about him. I do remember the case and the fact that he was acquitted of all charges. I suppose I never thought of him as "royal" or "aristocrat" in any way, just a gigolo. The rich wife was in a coma for many, many years before she died. Never saw the movie.
 
I suppose the marquis de Sade would count as a criminal. He was imprisoned for sodomy and poisoning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquis_de_Sade#Scandals_and_imprisonment

***

I don't believe countess Margit Batthyany, nee Thyssen ever got convicted but she had Jewish prisoners shot for fun during her dinner parties.


The killer countess: The dark past of Baron Heinrich Thyssen's daughter - Profiles - People - The Independent

According to a great niece her involvement is not quite so clear and she claims that there is no evidence for it. Something which is contested by the author of the article directly above.
The Batthyany Conspiracy: All Innocent On The Eastern Front | David R. L. Litchfield

Thanks for sharing this, I've been through the linked article, what a story! I have to say that after visiting Berlin I became admirative of how the nazi history is being exposed as a lesson not to repeat, however, this story shows how powerful families still benefit from cover-ups
 
Thank you Marengo. What a horrific story. I had no idea about the "noble" Thyssen family. I kept waiting for the part where Margit was arrested and spent the rest of her depraved life in prison...but I waited in vain.

Speechless.
 
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It's a dreadful story, and very interesting that this woman paid no penalty for this crime.
 
In 1923 in London there was a sensational trial. Princess Marguerite Fahmy (a Frenchwoman) was accused of the murder of her Egyptian husband, Prince Fahmy Bey, whom she shot one evening while they were staying at the Savoy Hotel.

She got off because her defence counsel, the famous Marshall Hall, cast several racist aspersions against the dead husband of sexual perversions of all kinds. Before her marriage Marguerite supposedly had a long affair with the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII when he was stationed in France during World War One.
 
Irina, the third daughter of the dethroned King Michael of Romania, received probation in 2013 for being part, with her husband John Walker, of an illegal cockfighting ring. They also ran an illegal gambling business on their Oregon ranch that was connected to this. King Michael stripped Princess Irina of her titles in 2014.
 
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In 1923 in London there was a sensational trial. Princess Marguerite Fahmy (a Frenchwoman) was accused of the murder of her Egyptian husband, Prince Fahmy Bey, whom she shot one evening while they were staying at the Savoy Hotel.

She got off because her defence counsel, the famous Marshall Hall, cast several racist aspersions against the dead husband of sexual perversions of all kinds. Before her marriage Marguerite supposedly had a long affair with the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII when he was stationed in France during World War One.

There was a C4 documentary a few years back on this.

The cover-up that saved the Prince of Wales' murderess lover from the gallows | Daily Mail Online
 
Don't forget the murder of Rasputin in 1916, one of the murderers were prince Felix Yusupov and grand duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia supported it.
 
Yes, poisoned, shot, beaten, drowned, Rasputin was hard to kill off. Even his body was disinterred and burned in 1917 by Soviet troops.
 
Duke Charles Edward of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha was convicted for war crimes after WWII for his role as President of the German Red Cross.
Although he was merely a figurehead the Red Cross was an integral part of the Nazi party and its role in the Holocaust is still a subject of debate.


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Princess Anne of the british royal family: i've heard that she has been charged twice. Once for driving too fast, once as her dog, dottie, attacked people on their bicycles
 
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