Bare Necessities

Ever since she burst onto the scene in the Eighties, Gloria von Thurn und Taxis has undergone a series of personal transformations that have made her the Madonna of royals. The Euro princess morphed into a prim and proper business executive after the death of her husband, Johannes, in 1990, restoring the family fortune, and into an observant Catholic with ties to the Vatican. This fall Gloria the Balabusta will make her American debut. She is bringing her line of biscuits, jams, chocolate pralines and scented candles, which launched last year in Berlin, to Bergdorf Goodman. Princess TNT, who was inspired by her personal indulgences at Schloss St. Emmeram, her palace home in Regensburg, Germany, has quite the sweet tooth. “I bake cookies the best,” she says. “It’s not so difficult. You just have to add lots of butter.”