Princess Camilla of Bourbon Two Sicilies
Credit: CL/Spread Pictures
A socialite and princess has been told she could be fined “millions” for contempt of court after refusing to reveal the whereabouts of a £50m Gauguin painting.
Princess Camilla Crociani de Bourbon des Deux Siciles appeared at the Royal Court on the Channel Island of Jersey accused of hiding Paul Gauguin’s ‘Hina Maruru’, in the latest hearing in a bitter ten-year dispute.
The family feud began when Italian film star Edoarda Crociani set up a trust fund called the Grand Trust for her two daughters — Cristiana and Princess Camilla — when they were teenagers in 1987.
Edoarda was the widow of an extremely wealthy Italian industrialist, Camillo Crociani, who died in 1980. He had amassed considerable wealth, including a collection of fine art.
But when £100m of investments and art was taken from the fund in 2010 and transferred into Edoarda’s name, estranged daughter Cristiana feared she was being blocked from inheriting the family’s wealth.
Christina began legal proceedings in 2011 and went on to tell of how her upbringing had been a “golden hell” and that she had been ostracised by her mother, who was obsessed with her marrying into royalty.
In 2017, the Royal Court ordered Edoarda and bank BNP Paribas Jersey Trust Corporation Limited (BNP), who were both trustees, to rebuild the fund, which includes Gauguin’s oil on canvas creation from 1893 insured for £49.9m.
Christiana’s sister Camilla Crociani — whose title became Princess de Bourbon de Deux Siciles following her marriage to Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro — was ordered to disclose details of her mother’s wealth to BNP.
But Princess Camilla, who lives between Monaco, Paris and Rome, with her husband and two daughters, refused to disclose the location of the painting, alongside other valuables the court heard — and has now been warned she faces a fine of “millions”.
Prince and Princess Charles of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and Princess Camilla's mother Edoarda Crociani
Credit: Bertrand Rindoff Petroff
Advocate William Redgrave, acting on behalf of BNP, outlined that an example of assets not submitted was expensive jewellery owned by Edoarda.
He said: "She had not mentioned that her mother had valuable jewellery in her mother’s affidavit. There was no de minimis limit [minimum threshold] in the court order."
Mr Redgrave outlined that Princess Camilla lived an expensive lifestyle, highlighting photos taken with President Donald Trump at his Florida home.
The princess also appeared on the TV documentary ‘Inside Monaco: Playground of the Rich’.
Advocate Olaf Blakeley, acting on behalf of the princess, maintained the position that she did not know the location of many of her mother’s assets and had submitted items ‘highlighted’ as a priority.
He said: "It would be quite wrong to say she failed to purge her contempt of court if she did not provide documents that are not in her power or possession.
"It is my submission the vast majority of documents that were requested were provided by Princess Camilla and all those highlighted were provided."
Prince Charles de Bourbon Siciles, his wife Princess Camilla de Bourbon Siciles, their daughters Maria Carolina de Bourbon Siciles and Maria Chiara de Bourbon Siciles and mother of Camilla, Edoarda Crociani attend the Wedding of Prince Jean-Christophe Napoleon and Olympia Von Arco-Zinneberg at Les Invalides on October 19, 2019 in Paris, France
Credit: Luc Castel
Commissioner Julian Clyde-Smith was sceptical that the princess was revealing everything she knew.
He said: "We have not received any information about the Croci Group [the family business] or on Mdme [Edoarda] Crociani’s non-voting shares in the group.
"The court believed [at the last hearing] that she knows where the Gauguin is. The way to purge the contempt is to tell us. And she has not done that."
Princess Camilla married Prince Carlo, the head of the Italian House of Bourbon des Deux Siciles in a ceremony in 1998 described by The Times as the ‘blue-blood wedding of the decade’.
Cristiana claimed that her mother was obsessed with the sisters marrying into royalty and said that her mother pressured her into marrying Italian Prince Bante Boncompagni Ludovisi — a relationship that lasted only four months.
She further claims that her mother refused to allow her to marry French entrepreneur Nicolas Delrieu
The Royal Court heard how Cristiana said her mother had a fear of being alone, and controlled her family through money.
Jurats Charles Blampied and Jerry Ramsden were sitting on the case.
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