Before being Her Serene Highness the Principessa Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi, she was Rita Carpenter.
In between, the San Antonio native was Rita Jenrette, the wife of a disgraced congressman who was convicted of bribery and conspiracy in the 1980 FBI Abscam scam.
She also modeled for Playboy, was an actress, a journalist for hit TV programs and a real estate broker. Then she put the bright lights of Washington, DC and New York in her rearview mirror and became a princess.
A page from the San Antonio Star with a story featuring Rita Jenrette.
Now the daughter of a millionaire oil dad and the scion of a wealthy Texas cattle rancher, the former Cambridge elementary school student is back in the spotlight due to an estate dispute in Rome with the children of her late husband, His Serene Highness Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi.
At stake is the most expensive house in the world, Casino dell’Aurora, a Roman villa that has belonged to the Ludovisi family for four centuries.
The villa, in the heart of Rome, features “Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto”, the only known ceiling painted by Caravaggio.
A “monumental property” on six levels, the listing says it is “among the most prestigious architectural and landscape beauties of pre-unification Rome” with three garages, Caravaggio, two roof terraces and a “splendid garden with arboreal species and large trees”. , footpaths, stairs and rest areas,” the Associated Press reported.
Villa Aurora sits near the highest point of Rome’s Aurelian Walls and near where some historians believe Julius Caesar welcomed Cleopatra in one of his homes, Forbes magazine said in a Dec. 12, 2021, article.
An Italian court has ordered the auction of Villa Ludovisi, scheduled for January 18.
The asking price: $533 million.
Rita Carpenter: The Early Years in Texas
Rome is a far cry from San Antonio and the princess’ previous life in Texas when she was dubbed “the ugly duckling” of St. Mary’s Academy in a December 29, 1981 San Antonio Star article.
“Boy, you wouldn’t believe what Rita looked like as a kid. She was a little clumsy and she had these real chunky glasses on,” one of her old friends, Donna Rogers, told the editor of TV Now, Jeanne Jakle, in this story from 1981.
This nerdy girl was actually featured on the San Antonio Express when she was just 8 years old. Rita had been featured in the “Glamour Clinic” makeover series written by then-Scene-Lifestyle editor Mildred Whiteaker.
Rita Carpenter grew up in Terrell Hills and attended Alamo Heights Junior High before moving to Austin.
Mrs. CH Carpenter, Rita’s mother, told the San Antonio Evening News in a December 4, 1980 story that her daughter wanted to be a country western singer.
When she was 2 years old, even before talking a lot, she could carry a melody. The favorite songs here were “Doggy in the Window” and “Mockingbird Hill”.
Rita Jenrette, the wife of former U.S. Representative John Jenrette who was convicted in an FBI case, gives an interview at the Chicago Playboy Club in 1981. Ms. Jenrette posed nude for the March 1981 issue of Playboy and was at Chicago to promote the magazine story.
Archive Bettmann/BettmannRita Jenrette: The DC Years
After the family moved to Austin, Rita Carpenter graduated from the University of Texas with honors with a degree in history and a minor in political science.
Her mother said Rita was interested in the Peace Corps but turned down a posting to Micronesia. Instead, she chose to vacation in France for a few months before returning to Texas.
She immersed herself in politics and served as a research analyst for the state’s Republican Party. In 1975, Rita then met former U.S. Representative John Jenrette, a Democrat from South Carolina, on the steps of the Capitol in Washington.
“He stopped her and talked to her,” her mother told the Evening News. “She didn’t want to go out with him at first. She wanted to be very careful. He kept calling her and eventually went out with him.”
They married in 1976 but their marriage ended four years later after Jenrette was convicted of taking bribes.
A few months later, Rita appeared in Playboy. She told Jakle that she posed in Playboy because Hugh Hefner agreed to pay her twice, which was as much as Bo Derek.
Playboy founder/publisher Hugh Hefner and Playboy journalist/covergirl Rita Jenrette are seen at the Playboy Mansion.
NBC/NBCUniversal via Getty ImagesThe decision to go all out was one the future princess regretted.
‘I have to establish my credibility now,’ she told the Evening News in May 1981. ‘You will never see me take off a stitch of clothing again, not even a shoe.’
Hollywood called and she appeared on shows like “Fantasy Island” and tabloid TV programs like “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” She was also a correspondent for “Current Affair”.
Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi: The Princess Years
In the Forbes Profile, Rita, now 72, tells how her life changed forever when she entered the New York real estate market and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Donald Trump. She met her future husband, Nicolo, in 2002. Business led to romance, romance led to marriage, and marriage led to Italy and the Casino dell’Aurora.
The shy and clumsy girl from San Antonio was now a princess. Although she still has ideas about being a country western singer, being the caretaker, renovating Villa Aurora and opening the villa to the world has been her passion for over a decade.
Villa Aurora remains a treasure trove for historians and art lovers.
An art history expert hired by the court to appraise the ceiling estimated that the Caravaggio mural is worth around $350 million of the house’s astronomical price, according to Forbes.
Nicolo died in 2018, setting the stage for today’s court battle over the estate.
“I couldn’t have dreamed of a more wonderful life,” the princess said.
After the auction in January, she said she could stay in Rome or move to New York.
Forty years ago, she told Star’s Jaekle she wanted to settle down.
“When I get a little more successful, I’m considering buying a house in San Antonio or Austin,” she said.
For now, Ludovisi told The Associated Press that she hopes the Italian government will buy the villa so it can remain in the public domain. As a historic site protected by the Ministry of Culture, Italy can attempt to match the highest bid in the auction.
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