A princess is at war with her sister over a £150million inheritance from their Italian film star mother who was ‘obsessed with marrying them off to princes’.
Edoarda Crociani, 77, trapped daughters Princess Camilla de Bourbon des Deux Siciles, 46, and her sister Cristiana, 44, in a ‘golden hell’, Jersey’s Royal Court was told.
She has been ordered to repay £149m taken from a Bahamian trust fund set up to benefit her two girls, which was created when they were teenagers.
Prince Charles Bourbon Two-Sicilies and Princess Camilla Bourbon Two-Sicilies in Cannes in May
Edoarda Crociani appeared in films under the name Edy Vessel during the 1950s and 1960s
Cristiana accused her mother of pressuring her into marrying Prince Bante Boncompagni Ludovisi, from an Italian noble family, in 1997 – a relationship that lasted only four months
Cristiana accused her mother of pressuring her into marrying Prince Bante Boncompagni Ludovisi, from an Italian noble family, in 1997 – a relationship that lasted only four months.
She claims that her mother, who appeared in films under the name Edy Vessel during the 1950s and 1960s, refused to allow her to marry French entrepreneur, Nicolas Delrieu, even when she became pregnant, the court was told.
The next year Princess Camilla married Prince Carlo, 54, the head of the Italian House of Bourbon des Deux Siciles, in a Monte Carlo cathedral was described by The Times as the ‘blue-blood wedding of the decade’.
The court judgment said of Cristiana: ‘Madame Crociani had a fear of being alone, and she controlled the purse strings.
Prince and Princess Charles of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and Princess Camilla’s mother Edoarda Crociani attend the Royal House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies Exhibition on November 13, 2012 in Paris
Prince Charles de Bourbon and his bride Camilla Crociani smile as they leave Monaco cathedral on October 31, 1998
Princess Camilla married Prince Carlo, 54, the head of the Italian House of Bourbon des Deux Siciles, in a Monte Carlo cathedral was described by The Times as the ‘blue-blood wedding of the decade’
Prince Charles of Bourbon-Two Siciles and Princess Camilla Crociani attend a wedding in Germany (left) in 2011. Pictured (right) is the princess in Monaco in 2010
‘Cristiana acknowledged that they led extremely glamorous and luxurious lifestyles, but they had no independence or private life of their own. She described it as “a golden hell”.’
She claimed she was told not to turn up for family events, but her mother said she ‘disappeared’.
In 2010, around £100m of investments and art was taken from the fund and transferred into Edoarda’s name, which let to Cristiana thinking the money was secretly being given to her sister.
Edoarda, who told the court in January that she was too old and ill to attend the hearing, was ordered to restore the fund to its financial position in 2010.
Edoarda, who told the court in January that she was too old and ill to attend the hearing, was ordered to restore the fund to its financial position in 2010