The tragic love story of Prince William and Hungarian model Zsuzsa Starkloff
The history of the British royal family is full of romantic stories. But the love story of Prince William of Gloucester and Hungarian model Zsuzsa Starkloff occupies a special place. Their passionate affair, which began like a fairy tale, caused panic in Buckingham Palace. It ended tragically, breaking the hearts of those who wanted happiness for this beautiful, but so unhappy couple.
Prince William of Gloucester, born December 18, 1941. His father was Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and his mother was Lady Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott. William was the grandson of King George V, and the future Queen Elizabeth II was his first cousin. Prince William had a right to the British throne, but his chances were not very good. He was only fourth in the line of succession.
However, William did not strive for titles and the throne. From childhood, he was attracted by adventures, freedom and life away from strict protocols and ceremonies. William was smart, charismatic and incredibly attractive, for which the press nicknamed him "the James Bond of the monarchy."
The prince went to Eton and Cambridge, served in the army, and then went to the United States, becoming the first member of the royal family to receive an American education. His sense of adventure took him around the world, and in 1968 fate brought him to Tokyo. In Japan, the grandson of the British monarch with the looks of a movie star became an ordinary employee of the royal diplomatic service. It was there that fate brought him together with Zsuzsa Starkloff.
Zsuzsi Starkloff, born Zsuzsi Lehel, was born in 1936 in Budapest to a Jewish family. Beautiful and sophisticated, she had catastrophic bad luck in her personal life. In 1956, during the Hungarian Revolution, she fled to Austria with her first husband, Tibor Szerfozso, and then to the United States. The couple had a daughter, but the marriage fell apart.
Then Zsuzsi, who worked as a flight attendant, married pilot Malcolm Edward Starkloff. But this union also soon ended in divorce. Zsuzsi quit her job at the airlines and devoted herself to raising her child. To make ends meet, she turned to the modeling business.
Luck smiled on Zhuzhi and soon she became the face of Revlon in Japan. The beauty moved in the circle of celebrities, including Sean Connery, and led a bright, eventful life. Her beauty, intelligence and charisma made her a star, but no one expected that she would win the heart of the British prince.
The couple met in 1968 at a masquerade ball in Tokyo. Zsuzsi persuaded a friend to invite William to the event. The woman made the first move - she sent a note to the Northamptonshire prince, signing it "Cinderella". It contained a playful reference to a lost slipper. This playful spark ignited a passion that became fateful for both of them.
William, charmed by the stranger's audacity, approached her at the ball and invited her to dance.
This is how Zsuzsi later recalled her first meeting with William in an interview for a documentary on Channel 4 in 2015.
It was love at first sight. After the ball, the couple did not want to part. They rented a secluded house on the Pacific Ocean coast, where they were not seen by prying eyes.
The woman described William, who was younger than her and had no experience of serious relationships, as wise beyond his years and yet completely unspoiled. He read poetry to Zhuzha, brought her breakfast in bed, and the two of them spent hours dreaming about a happy life together. The lovers swam, went diving, and went boating. They thought their happiness was inevitable, but it was not.
It is well known that royalty do not belong to themselves. Despite all efforts to maintain secrecy, the love story of the prince and the foreigner reached Buckingham Palace. It was a nightmare for the royal family. The memory of the scandal surrounding Edward VIII's abdication for Wallis Simpson was still fresh, and Zsuzsa was dubbed "the new Mrs. Simpson."
Not only was Zsuzsi Starkloff not a member of the aristocracy and Jewish, but she was also five years older than William. She had two divorces under her belt and was raising a child on her own. Elizabeth II and her sister Margaret began to devise a plan to remove the unwanted “bride” from the prince’s life.
Under a centuries-old royal decree, the Royal Marriages Act 1772, those who inherit the throne must seek permission from the British sovereign to approve their marriage, otherwise it could be declared invalid.
In 1969, Princess Margaret arrived in Tokyo under the pretext of attending British Week. But she was not interested in the event at all. The main purpose of the visit was to meet William. Margaret wanted to talk to her cousin and find out how serious his intentions were. After that, there were already plans for any eventuality.
Princess Margaret was careful and diplomatic. She told William that she understood his feelings perfectly and was happy for him. But… a marriage between him and Zhuzha was completely impossible. “She doesn’t blame me for falling in love with you,” William told his beloved what his cousin had said. Despite the pressure, William seriously considered giving up his royal duties for the sake of love.
The family pressure was growing. His father's stroke forced William to return to England, where his relatives continued to insist on a breakup. In 1970, William settled in an estate in Northamptonshire, inherited from his father. The enamoured prince wrote passionate letters to Zsuzsa in Tokyo. The couple agreed, against all odds, to reunite. They even chose a place for this - both were to come to New York.
Alas, the lovers were never able to reunite. A tragic accident intervened. On August 28, 1972, 30-year-old William, a passionate aviation enthusiast, was participating in an air show. During a maneuver, his single-seat light aircraft caught a tree with its wing, crashed and exploded. The prince died on the spot. At the moment of his death, he was wearing a ring given to him by his beloved. Zsuzsi learned about the tragedy from the news. “I was devastated,” she recalled.
Zsuzsi Starkloff remained true to her love. She decided to live the way William taught her — listening to her heart. The woman settled in a secluded town in Colorado, away from the hustle and bustle. She lived until she was 83, until May 2020, and remembered her great love every day. “There is not a day that I do not think about him,” she admitted. The story of their love remained in the shadows, but for Zsuzsi, William was forever the prince who gave her a fairy tale. Until the end of her life, she wore a gift from her beloved — a chain with a ring on which the letter “W” was engraved.
Today, looking back on this tragedy, we see how times have changed. If in the 1960s the marriage of William and Zsuzsa seemed impossible, then later the royal family accepted unions like the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The story of William and Zsuzsa is not only about love, but also about how prejudice and duty can destroy dreams. It makes you wonder: could they have been together if not for the pressure of tradition? And do you think love could have won if the prince had dared to challenge the royal family and public expectations?