In Tokyo, William couldnt be further from his familyand that meant no stuffy relatives keeping an eye on his activities. It was not the way the royal family saw it: with the abdication crisis of 1938, triggered by Edward VIII's determination to marry the divorcee Wallis Simpson, still recent history, news of the couple's romance was already causing panic. In 1968, one of Starkloffs upper-class friends threw a costume ball. I knew that she was going to take it badly, but I had no idea about the insane lengths she would go to just to get revenge and mess with my life. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
, Details of The Queens meeting with President Biden revealed. A group of small boys who happened to be near the crash site rushed to the raging inferno to render aid. "I was dressed as an Indian princess and William dressed as the lone ranger with a black cape and a mask. "It was amazing, we had such different backgrounds different families, different countries, different language but we just clicked and we never had arguments. Doctors eventually confirmed the diagnosis, providing more evidence that porphyria had been haunting the royal family for centuriesperhaps even as far back as Mary, Queen of Scots. That wasnt his only vice, either. He was well-regarded as a daredevil prince taking on several dangerous hobbies, including, flying, ballooning and hiking in the Sahara Desert. It was really fun. Background Check - Available. Please let us know if a fact weve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect its inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. Zsuzsi, who now lives in Colorado, was completely heartbroken to lose William. The "W" stands for Prince William of Gloucester, the Queen's cousin and a handsome young royal who was fourth in line to the throne. It brought back so any memories," she says now. As soon as word of the romance got back to the palace, it rang alarm bells of potentially being another King Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson affair. "My relationship with William had nothing to do with his title or me wanting to be a princess," Starkloff said. Zsuzsi was five years more established than the ruler and much smarter on the planet. Fri, Mar 03, 2023 . Historys most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your inbox daily. "He said she was very gracious and told him to 'follow your heart'. In fact, they were determined to put a stop to it. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Zsuzsana Maria Starkloff to show support. (Our own Prince William, it claimed, was named after him.) Just a few years younger, Charles was the perfect age to see William as a superhero. Newsweek reached out to Lalor for comment. He responded that if he ever married, it would only be someone who was right in the eyes of other members of the Family. Thankfully, he was never needed. When Margaret returned to London, she wrote to William, telling him he should wait and see how things worked out. The impact of his untimely death is said to have had a great effect on his cousin, Prince Charles, who would later name his firstborn son William. Day four of the lockdown files and its the juiciest so far. Admittedly, I cant claim to be a royal expert myself. "A dashing young man, it's no wonder the women of his time were awed by his charming looks. Although it is usually tucked away from sight, Zsuzsi Starkloff still wears the same necklace every day. There's something about American divorces REX/Shutterstock Edward VIII's decision to abdicate rather than leave the love of his life Wallis Simpson resulted in a constitutional crisis. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. One false move would have meant the end of William and his friendsbut William knew just what to do. When word of their relationship reached royal courtiers, they were adamant that Starkloff was not suitable. Writing a letter to William asking him to attend a party, she wrote: 'Dear Prince Charming. Prince William of Gloucester 1941 - 1972. He could be tiresomely selfish, according to his biographer. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. A few years that, he attended her coronation, when she became Queen Elizabeth II. Though nearly 20 years younger, William was quite close with his cousin, Princess Elizabeth. One of the boys later told BBC News, We tried to break into the planes doors and then tried to break it in half by pulling at the tail. Help using this website - Accessibility statement. His tragic death made him the first grandchild of King George V and Queen Mary to die. Prince Charles took Williams loss particularly hard. In 2015 Zsuzsi gave a rare interview to Britain's Channel 4 for a documentary, opening up about their love story and of the grief she still feels for the man she fell in love with nearly half a century ago. He worked for a merchant bank, then became a diplomat. In 1936 she was born in Budapest, Hungary. A crowd of 30,000 people watched excitedly as William of Gloucesters plane took off, only for their excitement to turn to horror. William was just 30 years old. Making distraction rewarding since 2017. Together at the small love nest they rented by the Pacific Ocean, they lived like any young couple in love. The prince was head over heels in love. This was the first time she met Prince William of Gloucester. "I wasn't able to free myself as I had other obligations in New York," she recalls. . Williams paramour was clearly not who she was expecting. But we are trying hard to collect all the information about him and will update you soon. And in the other respect, as a private individual who had his own thoughts and ambitions. He asked his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, how they would react if he married. The Duke of Cambridge is Williams true illustrious title. Where could Zsuzsi Starkloff be now? He did invite Zsuzsi to join him for a while, but with the dark forces of protocol closing in, he decided to put the affair on hold by the undeniably effective means of taking her to the airport and waving her off on a one-way trip to New York. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. Though he was a prince of England, William of Gloucester wasnt born in some decadent palace like most of his kin. It was a beautiful compliment," Zsuzsi said. She knew almost nothing about the Imperial family, and hardly anything about Britain, said TV producer Brian Henry Martin, who detained her in Colorado in 2015. 412K views, 701 likes, 95 loves, 64 comments, 162 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Real Royalty: In 2015 Zsuzsi Starkloff told the story of her forbidden relationship with Prince William of. William came rushing up, and in seconds they were lovers. Ruler Williams estimated total net worth is $40 million at the time of his death. Zsuzsi Maria Starkloff, 83, of Steamboat Springs, died at home on May 1, 2020, after a valiant battle with most cancers. He was tall. She started out as a model in New York before becoming a flight attendant on the now-old Overseas National Airways, flying from one side of the planet to the other. When, in September 1969, William's cousin Princess Margaret arrived in Tokyo, purportedly to help boost Britain's trade relationship with Japan, Zsuzsi believes her real mission was to gauge the seriousness of their relationship. The princes skin also blistered if exposed to too much sunlight. She escaped the Communist dictatorship that had taken over her nation on the age of 20 and made her answer to America, the place she was shortly awarded US citizenship. It was in this role that in 1968, at the age of 26, he was posted to Japan where, within a week, he met Zsuzsi at a party. William was the elder brother of Prince Richard (who is now the Duke of Gloucester) he would have inherited the Dukedom of Gloucester had it not been for his untimely passing. Find 1 person named Zsuzsi Starkloff along with free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search. Just as his plane reached the air, one of the doors suddenly burst open. "It was like a tidal wave. In one call, in late summer 1972, William rang Zsuzsi and asked if she wanted to fly to England and join him in the cockpit when he took part in an air race. She feared that, in his poor health, he wouldnt be able to bear the news. Though Prince William had a good heart, he was still a prince. We have no more information about his spouse. (Channel 4), "A British prince and a Hungarian girl met in Tokyo Japan 47 years ago. Though the lovers have perished, their love lives on inside the hearts and minds of netizens. "I felt guilty for not going, that somehow things would have been different if I had been by his side.". But so far as I am concerned she has no faults at all. At the time of his birth, he was fourth in line to the throne. William left diplomatic service to, as he put it, take on his full-time job as a royal prince. His Royal Highnesss body was identified the following day through dental records. Wiki, Biography, Age, Spouse, Net Worth, Fast Facts, Who Is Violet Knox? After years of service in France, Williams father had been able to return to be there for his birth. Her natural humility and cool great looks would have earned her an army of fans and a situation in the hearts of the country. Instead, he became just the second royal ever to work in civil service. Through his father, he was one of the youngest grandchildren of King George V and Queen Mary, meaning he was also first cousins with Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. All things being equal, the imperceptible powers of the establishment and a dangerous plane crash put an end to a adoration that, though largely obscured, left the Imperial court in awe. His tragic story touched them deeply, and had he not died that way, Royal protocols for relationships might've taken more to change. They remained extremely close for the rest of his lifebut tragically, she would also live to witness his horrifying demise. Williams mother, Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott, was so distraught at her sons passing that she didnt have the heart to tell her husband what had happened. Model and former air hostess Starkloff, from Hungary, had a daughter and was divorced, deeming her an unsuitable prospective wifefollowing the abdication scandal of King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson in 1936. Williams parents told him the Starkloff was quite beautiful, but he could read between the lines. Zsuzsi, a single mother, was living in Tokyo and having great success working as a model. I had a wonderful welcome from the Duchess of Gloucester.". In one respect, Prince William, a member of the family, and treated in that way. Nope. Born in Hungary, model Zsuzsi Starkloff moved to Japan to be the face of Revlons Japanese advertising campaign. But Prince Philip was pretty much up in arms against us marrying," Zsuzsi recalls now. Also, we have no idea about his brother and sister, and we dont know their names either. The doctor told William that he had porphyria. And, in case she still worried he might have moved on, he left one final, heartbreaking tribute to her. But we gave each other beautiful . Research Zsuzsi Starkloff Wikipedia and Biography Zsuzsi Starkloff was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1936 and lived there until she chose to flee to the US in 1956. And, to be fair, William was one heck of a guy. The Estimated Net worth is $80K USD $85k. I was very busy, my daughter was with me, she was a teenager, I had a lot of new friends, and very interesting people. Today Zsuzsi, who has made her home in Colorado, still retains the elegant looks that captured the heart of an English prince. The tall, handsome, and daring prince seemed more like a movie star than a royal. Anyway, Hungarian-born Starkloff, with a huge bequest in Northamptonshire and a lovely apartment at Kensington Palace, could be the Duchess of Gloucester. Getty Images. As a grandson of King George V, William was the most handsome and exciting royal of his generation, known as the "James Bond" of the monarchy. That turned out to be a mercy, as it spared her from watching the love of her life go up in flames. A month later, he sent word: Starkloff was to join him in England. Which is to say that the makers added a narration apparently written by Sylvie Krin of Private Eye and threw in a few royal commentators demonstrating their usual gifts for telepathy (or, if you prefer, complete guesswork). The royal family rejoiced at the birth of a new sonbut it wasnt yet safe to reveal him to the world. Prince William was obviously Nicole Sieffs type. Now, his relationship is perfect. In 2015, Starkloff told a British . She never married again, and never truly got over the death of the man she still calls the love of her life. As energetic as it was, his relationship with Starkloff was marred by misfortune and shame. Well, the good news is that Zsuzsi has certainly changed her mind since. SELECT AGE . Though the details are scarce, at some point in his life, William hiked through the Sahara Desert. (Nor, oddly, did anybody mention that William had been diagnosed with porphyria, as made famous by George III.) Former model and stewardess Zsuzsi Starkloff was in a relationship with Prince William of Gloucester. Eight years older than William, she had already married, had a daughter, and divorced. The blizzard of clichs began immediately when we were introduced to the playboy prince with the movie-star looks whose great love affair was destined to end in tragedy. Nonetheless, Im willing to bet that if our William had brought home his own twice-divorced Hungarian single mother, seven years his senior, we wouldnt have seen her walking down the aisle of Westminster Abbey. Username. He even asked Starkloff what she would say if he proposed. Though Margaret didnt directly encourage William to pursue his relationship with Starkloff, she did leave him with one small glimmer of hope. Before parting, William had a signet ring made for her, embossed with a W, as a promise. They have also lived in Heath, OH. Upon her return home, she wrote to William, telling him to wait a bit and see how everything looks once he got back to England. Besides that, I'm missing a slipper, signed Cinderella'," she revealed. But even if that was the case, tragic news from back home put an end to that idea once and for all. . We heard a party is not a party without you and besides that I'm missing a slipper.' An interview with Starkloff from 2015 appeared in a Channel 4 documentary, The Other Prince William: The Tragic Love Story of Prince William & Zsuzi, which aired last year. The glamorous Hungarian beauty, who could have married into the British royal family, lived until age 83 in a secluded mountain-top town in Colorado, thousands of miles away from the House of Windsor which caused her downfall. Yet his mind was made up: by 1970 William had decided to marry Zsuzsi and, while he never formally proposed, he gave her the signet ring she still wears around her neck as a symbol of his commitment. . That is not what ended up happening. . Zsuzsi, who now lives in Colorado, was completely heartbroken to lose William. He was seen with many different foreign girls on various nights out on the town. Prince William of Gloucester was Queen Elizabeth's cousin. Prince Henry and Princess Alice welcomed Starkloff into their home. Prince Charles was devastated at the loss of his cousin. "A Japanese girl and myself were the new face of Revlon in Japan. Sadly, that only made his tragic end in front of 30,000 horrified onlookers all the more devastating. Still, William was determined to bring his partner to England to meet his family. The King was well aware of the risks; he wrote to Williams mother saying that should anything happen to Henry, he would become the boys guardian himself. His passionate love affair with Zsuzsi a twice-divorced Hungarian Jew five years his senior unfolded through the late '60s and early '70s and scandalised the royal family to such an extent that she was dubbed the "new Mrs Simpson". She deserves recognition and a rightful place in history after stepping forward to reveal their painful story before it was too late and the details, lost forever. Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIIIs rejected queenbut few people know her even darker history. Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. From racing cars to flying planes, everyone in England heard about the daredevil princes exploits. Zsuzsi Starkloff eventually married, but she never let go of her daring prince. But possibly the biggest act of self-sabotage came when the programme tried to add yet another layer of tragedy by concluding that, had he lived, William and Zsuzsi would have been able to marry because not long afterwards the palace became far more relaxed about such matters. In passing, it tactfully informed us that William's ex-girlfriend Zsuzsi Starkloff 'no longer wishes to be reminded of her lost love'. But he suspects Margaret's personal experience might have had something to do with it; the Princess hadn't been allowed to marry the man she first loved, her father's equerry Peter Townsend, given that he was 17 years older than her and divorced with two children. When he left Eton, William went on to achieve a BA degree in history from Magdalene College, Cambridge and spent a further post-baccalaureate year at Stanford University in California studying political science, American history and business. He died in a plane crash in 1970. William would die in a plane crash in 1972. Above all, though, the programme took an intriguing slice of history and cramped it to fit a pre-existing template so rigid that, by the end, it was impossible to know how much of what wed heard was true. Though she was ostensibly there on a diplomatic trip, William knew exactly why she had come. When his own turn to become a father came around, Prince Charles named his first son, William (the Duke of Cambridge) in honour of Prince William of Gloucester. Well, normal for someone whos stinking rich. We want our readers to trust us. Former model and stewardess Zsuzsi Starkloff had a long-running relationship with William. Like Edward VIII, the programme lamented, William was forced to realise that you can have the woman or you can have the throne, but you cant have both a parallel that might have been stronger if William had ever had any chance of the throne. She never truly got over the death of the man she still calls the love of her life. Born in 1941, William was the beloved first-born son of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. Former business associate Shigeo Kitano, told Channel 4 William was obviously deeply in love with Zsuzsi. Right at the beginning Zsuzsi declared that we were about to hear a true fairy tale: a piece of inadvertent ambiguity that was perhaps more telling than she realised. Name. He was going to try and make this relationship work. It was then he met Starkloff, who lived there, as she said their relationship eventually blossomed into love. He was obviously very good looking. Wiki, Biography, Age, Spouse, Net Worth, Fast Facts. The result was an archetypal Channel 4 royal documentary. But then again, Prince Williams was only 30 when he died in a plane crash in 1972 while fighting as a pilot. Zsuzsi never got the chance to marry the man she loved. And if the winds ever changed, he would come back for her. Photographed competing in the King's Cup Race, a cross-country air race in the UK, 14th August 1971. Its time the playboy prince started living up to his name. (Channel 4), Former business associate Shigeo Kitano, told. In 1965, the royal started working for the Commonwealth Office, working in Lagos as the third secretary at the British High Commission. Pretty soon, people started calling him the Royal Familys own James Bond. Yet it was a love story destined to end in tragedy: in August 1972, the Prince's light aircraft crashed in an air race, killing him instantly at the age of just 30. He was in for a rude awakening. At a Wolverhampton air show in August 1972, William crashed his plane and was killed instantly. Fathers name is Not Available. Sean Connery was in Japan making a movie, we had dinner a couple of times," Zsuzsi told Channel 4. SUPPORT OUR JOURNALISM: Please consider donating to keep our website running and free for all - thank you! We had too much together.". He was very unspoiled. A chain carrying a signet ring carved with the letter "W", it is the legacy of a love affair that began nearly half a century ago. He is buried at the Royal Burial Ground in Windsor. But to the royal family, she was totally unsuitable. He acted as a page boy at her wedding when he was just seven years old. His parents were Prince Henry, brother to the reigning King George VI, and Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. She was apparently there for "British Week" which focused on British and Japanese trade relations, but it was clear she was also there to check up on William. "She came to William's house and we chatted and she was very gracious. My mom never told me how her best friend died. The adoration of ruler Williams and Zsuzsi Starkloff was arguably the greatest love of the twentieth century. But when she arrived, William decided to take a chance. According to biographer Christopher Wilson, Princess Margaret's real purpose was to scupper William's relationship. She escaped the communist fascism that had taken control of her country at the age of 20 and marched to America, where she immediately received American citizenship. In 1936, she was born in Budapest, Hungary. Zsuzsi is eighty-six years old. Wiliam's father Prince Henry experienced a stroke in 1970, which saw his son recalled to London and Starkloff visited as well. "I was nervous, of course, although everyone was very kind. It was his career that led him to Zsuzsi, the woman he loved even though some members of the royal family were determined that he would not be allowed to marry her. The abrupt turn caused his plane to lose altitudeand sent it careening straight towards a tree. When Margaret was younger, she had fallen in love with her fathers equerry, Peter Townsend. William and Starkloff could pretend like they were a normal couple for a while, but not forever. "We heard a party is not a party without you, and besides I'm missing a slipper,' signed Cinderella.". Despite this, their correspondence continued until his death in 1972. After all, it clinchingly reminded us, the later Prince William was free to marry Kate for reasons of the heart. He followed the usual royal education and then went into the Foreign Office. He still wore the ring he made for Starkloff, but his fathers health only reaffirmed his choice of duty over love. Though he could never go against his familys wishes, he wouldnt forget about her. Prince William of Gloucester was the worlds favorite royal. Brendan Da Costa is a writer at Factinate. For her part, Zsuzsi was a model and former air hostess with a neat line in flirty banter. He was passionate about aviation and even spent 16 days flying himself from London to Tokyo for his new position as a pilot. His Girlfriend/boyfriends name is Not Available. Starkloff had already heard about the dashing young British prince in town, so she told her friend to invite him. Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you. William was laid to rest on September 2 that year at Windsor Castle, with the ceremony attended by the queen and Prince Charles. Click here to subscribe to the Royal Central newsletter,
Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter. Yet, even though he grew up in the spotlight, he was said to always desire a life away from the confines of a royal role. He was a process A clip summarizing the prince's short life was shared on TikTok by Sarah Lalor under the account @history_withsarah last week. Zsuzsi met and married a pilot, Ed Starky Starkloff, during this period and not long after she obtained her pilots license, which allowed her to serve as a flight instructor. ", Love for William and Zsuzsi blossomed quickly and, according to Zsuzsi, three months into the relationship William said, "I never thought love could be this beautiful.". But, as the template demands, it was now time for those stuffed shirts at the palace to stand in the way of romance merely because Zsuzsi was a twice-divorced Hungarian single mother, seven years Williams senior.