Mariano Hugo, Prince of Windisch-Graetz


Mariano Hugo, Prince of Windisch-Graetz is the current head of the Austrian or Italian House of Windisch-Graetz. A former ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Slovak Republic, he is currently SMOM's ambassador to Slovenia.

Upbringing and family

Windisch-Graetz was born at Trieste as the elder son of Maximilian Antonius, Prince zu Windisch-Graetz and Maria Luisa 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 bore the style of Serene Highness.
On 11 February 1990 in Salzburg, Austria, Windisch-Graetz married Sophie Habsburg, daughter of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and Countess Helene zu Törring-Jettenbach, daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark.
The couple have had three children:
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 19 December 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.

Honours and awards