Texas-born Italian princess to be evicted from $533M royal villa as she battles stepchildren over inheritance

April 20, 2023

A Texas-born Italian princess is facing imminent eviction from her royal villa in Rome amid an intense inheritance battle with her stepchildren.

Princess Rita Jenrette Boncompagni Ludovisi, formerly known as American actress Rita Carpenter, was holding out at the Casino dell’Aurora Wednesday night in anticipation of Carabinieri police arriving to escort her out and seize her property Thursday morning.

A Roman judge ordered in January that Ludovisi must vacate the home by April 20 as part of a ruling that she failed to maintain the historic property after a wall collapsed and blocked a nearby street.

Those still in the home Thursday would be forced out of the house, the decree states.

Police are also ordered to take possession of the property, change the locks and “dispose of or destroy” any furniture or documents left behind.

Ludovisi previously said she would “vigorously defend” her life-long right to stay in the $533 million villa that was bestowed to her by her husband, Prince Nicolo von Boncompagni Ludovisi, after his death in 2018.

Rita Jenrette Boncompagni Ludovisi, formerly known as American actress Rita Carpenter, was holding out at the Casino dell’Aurora Wednesday night in anticipation of Carabinieri police arriving to escort her out and seize her property Thursday morning. — Rita Jenrette Boncompagni Ludovisi, formerly Rita Carpenter, was holding out at the Casino dell’Aurora Wednesday night in anticipation of Carabinieri police arriving to escort her out and seize her property Thursday morning.

Those still in the home Thursday would be forced out of the house, the decree states. — A Roman judge ordered in January that Ludovisi must vacate the home by April 20 as part of a ruling that she failed to maintain the historic property after a wall collapsed and blocked a nearby street.

The widow asserted that she and her husband worked diligently to restore the villa — which has been in the Ludovisi family since the early 1600s and features the only ceiling mural 16th-century Italian Renaissance master Caravaggio has ever known to have painted.

She claimed to have tried negotiating with her late husband’s children, and called the eviction “unexpected and unjust.”

“What a brutal ending to my beautiful life with my beloved Nicolo,” Ludovisi said Wednesday.

A Roman judge ordered in January that Ludovisi must vacate the home by April 20 as part of a ruling that she failed to maintain the historic property after a wall collapsed and blocked a nearby street. — Ludovisi previously said she would “vigorously defend” her life-long right to stay in the $533 million villa that was bestowed to her by her husband.

The widow asserted that she and her husband worked diligently to restore the villa -- which has been in the Ludovisi family since the early 1600s and features the only ceiling mural 16th-century Italian Renaissance master Caravaggio has ever known to have painted. — The widow asserted that she and her husband worked diligently to restore the villa — which has been in the Ludovisi family since the early 1600s and features the only ceiling mural 16th-century Italian Renaissance master Caravaggio has ever known to have painted.

Ludovisi and her step-sons have been locked in a five-year dispute over the home, which has been in the Ludovisi family since the early 1600s.

The children have argued that their grandfather intended for them to inherit the home and that their late father abused them and mismanaged his fortune.

Ludovisi inherited the home after marrying Prince Nicolo von Boncompagni Ludovisi in 2009 and was solidified as its legatee in his will.