Meet ‘Princess TNT’ Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, who went from a punk rock icon who partied with Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger in the 80s, to a Catholic activist

Sep 12 , 2024

Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis in front of her palace, St Emmeram, in Regensburg, Germany, in July. Photo: DPA

The princess has made headlines for a US$900 ‘gift’ to US Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr and his wife, Martha-Ann, which just showed up on his 2023 financial disclosure

Last week, German aristocrat and socialite Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis made headlines once again. US Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr’s 2023 financial disclosure revealed that the royal had gifted the American legal eagle and his wife concert tickets worth US$900.

The well-known conservative, who authored the leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, has historically opposed abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, but has expanded gun rights and supported religious freedoms.

In an interview with The New York Times, Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis revealed that she considered the justice a “hero” for his anti-abortion stance. She even hosted him and his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, at her castle before they attended the Bayreuth Festival opening together. But the princess’ complicated – and controversial – actions actually go back decades.

Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis attends an event for the German Navy in 2022. Photo: @gloriaisaprincess/Instagram

In the 80s, the princess was living a high-flying life among the global creative set. At the time, she was a punk rock icon who rode a Harley-Davidson, partied with Michael Jackson, Andy Warhol and Mick Jagger, and once surprised her husband – late billionaire Prince Johannes von Thurn and Taxis – with a 60th birthday cake decorated with 60 marzipan phalluses.

So it’s hard to imagine how “Princess TNT” – as Vanity Fair famously nicknamed her – turned into a mouthpiece for Catholic activism and the preservation of conservative values. Yet that’s exactly how her life unfolded after she became the dowager princess when her husband died after just 10 years of marriage, leaving massive debts behind. Princess Gloria now advocates for Catholicism as the “true religion” and has openly criticised Pope Francis for the state of the Catholic Church under him that, according to her, “[doesn’t] have enough self-esteem to be able to say more prominently what is wrong in our society”.

So what else do we know about the reformed party girl who’s recommitted herself to religion?

Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis is a German aristocrat who’s had ups and downs with religion

The princess was born Countess Gloria von Schönburg-Glauchau in Stuttgart to Joachim and Beatrix, Count and Countess of Schönburg-Glauchau, on February 23, 1960. Despite the aristocratic titles, the family was not affluent. Her father worked as a journalist and author, and she was partly raised in Africa. She grew up a faithful Catholic but admitted, in an interview with Catholic Herald, that while her religion has waxed and waned, she “never lost faith for long periods”.