Period 1976 - present Heir Prince Maximilian Hugo | Name Mariano Prince House Windisch-Graetz | |
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Predecessor Prince Maximilian Antonius Issue Prince Maximilian HugoPrince Alexis Ferdinando (deceased)Princess Larissa Maria Father Maximilian Antonius, Prince zu Windisch-Graetz Children Prince Maximilian Hugo, Princess Larissa Maria | ||
Mariano Hugo, Prince of Windisch-Graetz (German: Mariano Hugo Fürst zu Windisch-Graetz, Italian: Mariano Ugo, Principe di Windisch-Graetz; born 27 July 1955) is the current head of the Austrian or Italian House of Windisch-Graetz. A former ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) to the Republic of Slovakia, he is currently SMOM's Ambassador to Slovenia.
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Upbringing and family
Windisch-Graetz was born at Trieste as the elder son of Maximilian Antonius, Prince zu Windisch-Graetz and Maria Luisa (Marlise) Serra di Gerace. His mother was the legitimatised daughter of Gian Battista Serra, 12th Principe di Gerace by Donna Maria Grazia Carafa d'Andria.
Windisch-Graetz was educated firstly in Rome at the school of the De La Salle Brothers and then in England at the University College of Buckingham, from which he graduated in 1975 with an Economics and Political Science degree.
When his father died in 1976, Windisch-Graetz succeeded as head of a cadet branch of the House of Windisch-Graetz, a mediatised house whose members historically bear the style of Serene Highness.
On 11 February 1990 in Salzburg, Austria, Windisch-Graetz married Archduchess Sophie Franziska of Austria, daughter of Archduke Ferdinand and Countess Helene zu Toerring-Jettenbach, daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark. The bride wore a Valentino wedding gown.
The couple have had three children: Prince Maximilian Hugo, Prince Alexis Ferdinand (who died at Sant'Angelo d'Alife in a car accident in 2010), and Princess Larissa Maria Grazia Helen Leontina Maria Luisa. Windisch-Graetz and his family reside in Italy when he is not abroad on diplomatic appointment, maintaining a home in Rome and Il Palazzo in Sant'Angelo d'Alife.
Activities and appointments
The business activities of Windisch-Graetz include the food production industry, notably biscuits and mozzarella cheese, and entrepreneurial finance. In the early 1990s, he was a major shareholder in the Banco di Napoli and a holding company, Sogesco, of which he owned 82%, was capitalised at 10 billion lire.
On December 19, 1987, Pope John Paul II appointed Windisch-Graetz a Gentleman of His Holiness, a role which entails meeting visiting heads of state and ambassadors and escorting them to meet the pope. He is also a Knight of Honour and Devotion in Obedience of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
In 2003 Windisch-Graetz was appointed Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Republic of Slovakia; this appointment was renewed in 2006, until December 2009. In March 2009 he was appointed Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Republic of Slovenia.