Countess Tessa von Walderdorff was born on 20 February 1994 in New York City. Her father is photographer and artist Count Franz von Walderdorff and her mother is artist Anna-Sabrina Brühwiler. She is of German heritage on her father's side and German, Swiss, French, and Danish heritage on her mother's side. Walderdorff spoke French as her first language, and later became fluent in German and in English. She is a member of the German noble Walderdorff family and is a morganatic descendant of the German House of Wittelsbach, which ruled over the Kingdom of Bavaria. As a child, Walderdorff spent a lot of time at Schloss Höfling, an 18th century castle near Regensburg, Bavaria on lease to her family by the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis. Walderdorff's paternal grandfather, Count Hugo von Walderoff, left Germany during World War II to escape forced recruitment into the Hitler Youth. Her paternal grandmother is Countess Marie Josepha von Ballestrem, a daughter of Princess Therese zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. She has a younger sister, Countess Mia Rose von Walderdorff.
Career
Walderdorff worked as a production assistant for Holly Li Productions during New York Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week in 2012 and 2013. In 2013 she also interned for Donna Karan. Since 2014 Walderdorff has been working as an intern at Laird + Partners, a subsidiary of MDC Partners. Walderdorff made her film debut in the 2017 filmRosewood: The Best Version of Yourself. She played Jessica Cabot in the upcoming film Spring to Winter. Inspired by music she discovered while living in Berlin, and with her classical piano training, Walderdorff has done free-lance work as a disc jockey and has begun producing her own music. Walderdorff is a licensed real estate agent and works as a salesperson for Hilton and Hyland, a real estate firm owned by Jeffrey Hyland and her father-in-law Richard Hilton. Walderdorff has written two compilations of short stories and is publishing a series of children's books with Full Cycle Publications. She also writes for the Berlin-based I Love You magazine. In September 2018 Walderdorff modeled for Marcel Ostertag's Spring 2019 collection at his show during New York Fashion Week.
Personal life
Walderdorff attended the Ross School in East Hampton, New York. She graduated from Bard College in 2016, where she double majored in Written Arts and French and was a member of the tennis team. Walderdorff met Barron Nicholas Hilton II, younger brother of Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton Rothschild, at a restaurant in Saint Barthélemy in 2016, and began dating shortly after. Hilton proposed to Walderdorff on 17 September 2017 in Central Park. They announced their engagement via Instagram later that month. Walderdorff and Hilton were married in Gustavia; first in a civil ceremony at the town hall on 1 June 2018 and then in a religious ceremony at St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church on 3 June 2018. After the ceremony they had a reception at the Villa La Plage. In September 2019 von Walderdorff announced that she was pregnant. On 11 March 2020 she gave birth to a daughter, Milou Alizée Hilton.
