Prince Ludwig Rudolph of Hanover - Marriage and Death

Marriage and Death

Having obtained the consent of Elizabeth II by Order in Council on 15 September 1987 pursuant to the Royal Marriages Act 1772, Ludwig Rudolph, a Lutheran, married the Roman Catholic Countess Isabelle von Thurn und Valsassina-Como-Vercelli (born 1962 in Gmunden, Upper Austria), a former fashion model at her father's ancestral Austrian estate in Bleiburg, Carinthia on 4 October 1987. She was the daughter of Count Ariprand von Thurn und Valsassina-Como-Vercelli (1925-1996), whose family has been traced back to Gorizia in the 14th century, and his wife, née Princess Maria von Auersperg (born 1929). Ludwig Rudolph and Isabelle had one son:

• Prince Otto Heinrich Aripand George Johannes Ernst August Vinzenz Egmont Franz of Hanover (born 13 February 1988)

In the early hours of 29 November 1988, after the couple had entertained guests at their summer home, Königinvilla in Gmunden, he ascended to the bedroom whither his wife had retired before midnight, and found Isabelle sprawled fully dressed across their bed. The efforts of her husband and friends to revive her proved futile. As authorities later removed her body and investigated the scene, discovering syringes, cocaine and heroin, Ludwig Rudolph, who had been investigated previously on suspicion of illegal drug purchases, placed a call to his elder brother, Ernst August, in London, imploring him to take care of the couple's 10 month-old son henceforward. Then he slipped away. Several hours later Ludwig Rudolph was found near his family's hunting lodge at some miles distance, on Lake Traun. He was in his car, motor running, but had the muzzle of a rifle in his mouth and was dead of a gunshot wound.

The case was closed without further investigation. Ludwig Rudolph and Isabelle were interred on 2 December 1988 at Grünau im Almtal, Austria, having been married less than 14 months. Custody of their infant son Otto Heinrich was awarded, contrary to the expressed wishes of Ludwig Rudolph, to the child's maternal grandparents, the Count and Countess Ariprand von Thurn und Valsassina-Como-Vercelli at their castle, Schloss Bleiburg in Austria.