An eccentric German aristocrat nicknamed “Princess TNT” because of her explosive views and big personality says Justice Samuel Alito and his wife stayed at her castle during a 2023 music festival.
The trio then attended the opening of the world-famous Bayreuth Festival together last year. The trip was revealed after it emerged that the Supreme Court justice accepted $900 worth of concert tickets from the right-leaning Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis.
There were no further details of the tickets on the required financial disclosure form for Supreme Court justices.
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But the 64-year-old princess told the New York Times that Justice Alito and his wife, Martha-Ann, are “friends.”
She described Alito as a “hero” and reportedly wrote in a text: “He is pro-life in a time where the majority follows the culture of death.”
With a skull emoji, she added: “Christians believe in life. The Zeitgeist is nihilistic and believes in destruction.”
The 2023 summer Palace Festival at St Emmeram Palace, the royal’s 500-room Bavarian castle in Regensburg, Germany, featured a performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, a children’s musical about a witch, and a Michael Jackson tribute show, among other acts.
In an interview filmed during the visit, Alito told Christian Eckl, the editor of the city’s newspaper, that he was looking forward to seeing Wagner’s operas at the Bayreuth Festival.
“I will enjoy it. A friend of mine has waited his whole life to get tickets to go, and so it’s quite a privilege to be able to go,” said the judge.
The revelations came amid increased scrutiny over undisclosed gifts and trips for justices paid for by wealthy benefactors.
Justice Clarence Thomas has acknowledged benefitting from travel to Bali and California paid for by Republican donor Harlan Crow. Alito allegedly took a private plane for a luxury fishing trip to Alaska in 2008.
Known as the “Punk Princess” as a young woman, Princess Gloria was also given the nickname “Princess TNT of Bavaria” by Vanity Fair. The royal jet-setted around the world with the likes of Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall, ex-Vogue editor André Leon Talley and Hilary Clinton.
She did not respond to questions from the Times about how long she had known the Alitos and if she had paid for any travel or other gifts.
