German princess gave Justice Alito $900 in concert tickets
September 7, 2024
US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito disclosed receiving concert tickets worth $900 from German socialite and "princess" Gloria von Thurn und Taxis.
Gloria von Thurn und Taxis is known for her role in organizing the traditional castle festival in RegensburgImage: picture-alliance/dpa
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US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito reported accepting $900 (€811) in "concert tickets" from a German princess, according to a new financial disclosure released Friday.
The required annual filing, for which Alito has often asked for an extension, doesn't include details about what event the tickets were for but does say they came from German socialite Gloria von Thurn und Taxis.
The financial disclosures filed by the Supreme Court justices come against a backdrop of heightened focus on ethics at the US high court amid criticism over undisclosed travel and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices.
The annual disclosures paint a partial picture of the justices' finances because they are not required to report the value of their homes or, for those who are married, their spouses' salaries.
For their day jobs, the justices are paid $298,500 annually, except for Chief Justice John Roberts, who earns $312,200.
The remains of nobility in Germany
The last Emperor of Germany abdicated, and monarchy was abolished in the country a century ago, but there are still traces of nobility. Here's what it means.
Image: picture-alliance/imagebroker/D. Plewka
The Kaiser and his court
If you know the different German ranks of royalty, you're probably a medieval history buff: Kaiser (emperor), König (king), Erzherzog (archduke), Grossherzog (grand duke), Kurfürst (elector), Herzog (duke), Landgraf (landgrave), Pfalzgraf (count palatine), Markgraf (margrave), Fürst (prince), Freiherr (baron), Ritter (knight), Junker (squire)… But are there any kings and queens left in Germany?
Image: Harald Richter/Bildagentur-online/McPHOTO/picture alliance
The abolition of monarchy
Following the German Empire's defeat in World War I, civil unrest across Germany led to the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II (portrayed above). A parliamentary democracy was proclaimed on November 9, 1918, and the Prussian monarchy and Germany's 22 constituent monarchies were abolished.
Image: Ralf Hirschberger/dpa/picture alliance
Symbols of nobility
Traces of nobility can still be found in people's names. The particles "von" (which means "descending from") or "zu" ("resident at") preceding a German surname indicate that the person belongs to a family with a former heredity title — which is estimated to be the case for around 80,000 people in Germany. The titles only have a symbolic value today.
Image: picture-alliance/imagebroker/D. Plewka
Austria's abolition of nobility titles
The last Emperor of Austria, Karl I (picture), didn't officially abdicate, so the laws abolishing the monarchy were stricter in the Austrian Republic. Germany's Weimar Republic allowed aristocrats to keep their family's nobiliary particles, but Austria determined in 1919 that such markers of identity were to be removed from names. Some politicians say a similar law should apply in Germany too.
Image: imago images
An extra boost
Belonging to the nobility does not provide any legal advantages in Germany, but studies have found that people with a nobiliary particle in their name had more chances of landing a job interview than those without one. Nobility associations also provide networking opportunities that can contribute to gaining access to influential circles.
Image: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP/picture alliance
Joining a noble family
Proof that some people still believe that nobility has its perks, it is possible to acquire a genuine title through marriage or adoption. It's not cheap, however: Consultants offering such services mention fees "in the five to six-digit range." You'll also need to convince the family court that you're not getting adopted only to obtain the noble name — in that case, the name change can be refused.
Image: picture-alliance/Chromorange/H. Richter
A prince's title
It's actually really cheap to buy a German nobility title from a feudal line whose family members are all deceased. The companies selling those titles compare it to choosing your own artist's pseudonym, a right that's protected in Germany. But it's not a title that can be added to your identity card — unless you manage to prove that everyone knows you as "Prince."
Image: Keystone/dpa/picture alliance
Is that a real one?
Picking up a title for fun is one thing, but that doesn't mean you suddenly belong to nobility. Pretending you do can damage your credibility. For instance, the media investigated the title of a politician from the far-right AfD party, Doris Fürstin von Sayn-Wittgenstein. It turned out to be one that "has been sold at a high cost for a certain time already," according to the "Süddeutsche Zeitung."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Scholz
A touch of irony
Additionally, not everyone is impressed by nobiliary particles. The expression "Herr von und zu" or "Frau von und zu" — without referring to an actual family name — is sometimes used to mock a man or a woman who takes on pretentious airs. Haughty Ladies and Sirs should try kissing a frog; it might remind them that they're just mortal humans — and no noble title will ever change that.
Image: M. Weber/Chromorange/picture alliance
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Who is Gloria von Thurn und Taxis?
The Weimar Constitution of August 14, 1919, abolished the legal privileges and titles of German nobility. Therefore, officially, there are no German princes and princesses. Still, Gloria Princess von Thurn und Taxis had been considered a rebel as far as German "royalty" is concerned. She once caused a sensation with her punk hairstyles, but now she is known better for her deeply conservative Catholic views.
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She has been accused of being close to right-wing extremists and homophobic. The 64-year-old entrepreneur denied this in interviews.
In other interviews and television appearances, she has denied human-caused climate change, condemned same-sex marriage and blamed the devil for "everything that is bad in the world," including the coronavirus pandemic. She has also met Stephen Bannon, a former adviser and campaign manager for ex-US President Donald Trump, on several occasions. Bannon even suggested her palatial home could be used as a school to educate right-wing Catholics.
She is also a traditional hostess of the Thurn und Taxis Castle Festival in Regensburg. The opera "Carmen" by Georges Bizet was on the program this year.
As in the previous year, there were protests against von Thurn und Taxis at this year's festival.
The background of the criticism is a meeting between the extremely conservative Werte-Union wing of the center-right Christian Democratic Union, and the former president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maassen, in July 2023 in the Princely Palace, which became known through research by t-online.de, the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung and German public broadcasters NDR and WDR.