Italian Prince and Princess Fight Over Inheritance for Surrogate Children

Italian Prince Jonathan and Princess Gesine are fighting over their late-mother’s inheritance, which includes a 1,000 room palace in Rome and an extensive art collection.  Specifically, Gesine is asking an Italian court to rule that Jonathan’s two children from a surrogate mother are not heirs under Italian law.  Gesine has four children of her own and disapproves of Jonathan’s homosexual lifestyle and surrogate mothers.

Ironically, neither Jonathan nor Gesine have true royal blood.  Their mother, an Italian Princess by birth, adopted the two from British orphanages. 

According to Nick Pisa, Rags to riches siblings driven apart by battle for €1bn fortune, Irish Independent, Oct. 13, 2009, under Italian law the surrogate children “are not recognised and have no legal rights on the family fortune, despite Jonathan’s British civil partnership.”  A court verdict is expected this month.

Special thanks to Patrick Thiessen (attorney, Colorado) for bringing this article to my attention.