What a thing the madrone of Madrid will be that even hanging from the same tree gives us a feeling of intoxication. The deep red color of its fleshy and enticing berry could be blamed Ernst of Hanover of his scoundrel nights in the capital. As infinite as those of Ava Gardner in the 50s and 60s and as legendary as the bear hugging the strawberry tree. And that now, as Sabina would sing, the German prince neither closes the bars nor does he do so many excesses.
At 68, he has fallen captivated by the seductive normality of his girlfriend Claudia Stilianopoulos, daughter of the endearing Pitita Ridruejo, and after a year and a half of relationship, the couple has offered the first official pose. The involuntary architect is the businessman and chef Gianni Sebastianelli, who invited the couple to the anniversary party of his restaurant Alduccio, on Avenida de Concha Espina, a step away from the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, in the Madrid neighborhood of Chamartín. We talked to him about his friendship with the aristocrat, “a relationship forged long ago, very close and affectionate», and confirms that the courtship of his guests is in excellent health. «Ernesto -he says- is a funny, close, affectionate man, full of human qualities and a character that people should know, instead of talking about his outbursts. These are something occasional, like anyone else’s. They shouldn’t be that important.”
The chef posed with the couple and the aristocrat was seen relaxed, happy and very satisfied after tasting Gianni’s dishes. «He is an excellent gourmet and has an exquisite palate. He loves Italian food », assures his friend. Casually dressed, but without losing his dandy bearing, the character becomes even more picturesque in his sentence to be the eternal husband of Caroline of Monaco and to have Claudia as a stoic and resigned lover.
Sebastianelli looks adorable. And it is true that it seems made to be contemplated. In their languid days or rogue nights. In flesh and blood, caricature, parody or journalistic image. Elegant and distinguished, he knows how to compose the scene, even if his way of being is not to the liking of others. His refinement would prevent him from gorging himself on pizza at Alduccio, but it does not stop him from urinating on public roads, getting involved with umbrellas with the press or attacking the staff of an establishment. He would be long to tell the story of his fights. From the luxurious Palacio de los Duques Gran Meliá hotel, where he lived since he decided to establish his residence in the capital, he left in March with intemperate boxes because of an altercation with one of his employees. From there he went to the exclusive Santo Mauro, in Chamberí, and now lives for rent, between Madrid and neighboring Portugalwhich he loves more and more.
Claudia is an artist and is 48 years old. She has inherited the slim figure of her mother, Pitita, and the facial contours of her father, Ambassador Mike Stilianopoulos, who despite being born in Manila was of Greek descent.
The change maker
What daughter of the most mystical socialite in Spain, Claudia had an upbringing characterized by spirituality and the intangible. She has never come to see the Virgin, as her mother did, but at the age of 10 she says that witnessed a miracle, that of the dance of the sun. When he came of age, she shouldered her backpack and exchanged her glamorous vacation in Puerto Banús for a third-class carriage bound for Calcutta. She has been in love with India ever since.
He began his artistic career at the age of 16, with minimalist drawings that arose almost automatically. In the year 2000 he opened his sculptural company Casa de Clo. From wood carving, forging, ceramics and the art of recycling using old cardboard and planks that he rescues from the street as a canvas, he gives his work a social and human message. One of his sculptures is a Menina exhibited on Velázquez street in Madrid under the title “Social Conscience” inspired by a phrase by Ortega y Gasset that says: “A civilization can only endure if many contribute their collaboration to the effort. If everyone prefers to enjoy the fruit, civilization collapses.
Your accounts are fine. House of Clo has an asset of 2.5 million euros and a share capital of 933,000. In addition to managing her artistic career through her, she also has the rental and sale of real estate as an activity. Her real estate assets include the family home that she inherited with her two brothers – a mansion of more than 700 square meters, a hotel house in the Primo de Rivera neighborhood and a commercial premises on Almirante street. All this led the German magazine “Bunte” to insinuate, in an extensive report dedicated to Ernesto, that his Spanish girlfriend supported him and his first wife, Chantal Hochuli, lent him money in exchange for some work from his private art collection.
The truth is that the couple lives in separate houses, practicing what they call “living apart together” (with you, but without you), ideal for embracing a romance when there are children from previous couples and not end up living out of it. Claudia lives with her two daughters, Olivia and Casildathe result of her marriage to the artist Juan Garaizábal.
Despite his placid family life in the capital, very close to his girlfriend and also his son Christian, married to the Peruvian Sassa de Osma, with whom he has two children, 2022 has not been an easy year for Ernesto de Hannover. Last summer the judge dismissed the lawsuit that he filed two years ago against his eldest son, Ernst August, for which he wanted to reverse the transfer that he made between 2004 and 2007 of some family properties.
Disputed Assets
Among the disputed assets were Marienburg Castle, the jewel in the crown of the Hannover dynasty, and the Palace of Prince Herrenhausen, where the heir and his wife, the Russian model Katya Malysheva, reside with their three children. Although the aristocrat accused the son of unjust enrichment and “great ingratitude” for neglecting him and denying him help, the germ of the dispute was his opposition to the marriage with Katya, alleging that he put at stake “the preservation of the interests of the House, including Valuable cultural assets of the Hanoverians for centuries.
Three months later, on October 17, one of his family businesses, the firm that bears his initials, EAH BetreibungsgmbH, based in Salzburg, declared bankruptcy. The last legal conflict that he has had to face in recent months has been from his ex-lawyer, the Austrian Malte Berlin, who is demanding a debt of 74,000 euros as fees.
At least, at the end of 2021 and coinciding with the first months of courtship with Claudia, the Austrian Higher Regional Court annulled the sentence which included ten months in prison on probation, the prohibition of drinking alcohol during that period, going to therapy and abandoning his Austrian residence in Grünau im Almtal for three years. The judges took this moment of reflection into account. With her third daughter, Alexandra, the youngest of Carolina de Monaco and a fashion icon just like her, the relationship remains distant and rare. Some family event and a meeting in New York once a year, according to the German media Neue Post and Bunte.
Hedonistic and passionate about art, he seems to have made his most sublime work of himself. In the last images of him, he appears to have incorruptible serenity, but he maintains that point of not taking himself seriously, exaggerating his manners with a disconcerting sense of theatrics. With his air of a defeated prince, he is the declassed aristocrat out of sheer conviction and because it allows him to surrender to life from the most playful and impertinent side of him. His girlfriend Claudia or his friend Gianni see in him a romantic hero who seeks redemption through love and whom they accept despite his studied rebellion, his petulance or that intense life that must leave them exhausted. He has found in them his personal refuge before the world and in Madrid, the city that manages to erase any trace of his madness.
Would Pitita Ruidrejo have given her blessing?
Pitita was the daughter of an important family of bankers and he was an unrepeatable character, who would have been delighted that his daughter was with Ernesto de Hannover. Fellini’s muse, mystic and fervent believer in Marian apparitions, occupied a place of honor in spaces as diverse as charitable acts, gossip magazines, fashion magazines, the high European aristocracy and, of course, in the Marbella partying. At midmorning, she prayed in the chapel of her Madrid palace and at night, she danced at the Joy Eslava nightclub.
He always thought that his daughter Claudia, with her unpronounceable surnames, sold badly. But Claudia was never worried about fame or the press or being a star in any kind of public event that was not strictly related to the world of art. If she were alive, she would be surprised that her daughter was in the spotlight and it is likely that she would have been aware of Ernesto’s more revelry life (which would have scared her), given her ties to European royalty, since with Caroline of Monaco shared a devotion to Warhol.