From PEOPLE Magazine
Click to enlarge
If he were looking for a princess the fairy-tale way, he would take Manolo Blahnik mules instead of a glass slipper. The 37-year-old Charles-Henri is a suave blend of old-world aristocratic values, smooth continental charm and American yuppie ingenuity. "This prince is open-minded, easy with people, and he lives in today's world," says friend Eric Wright, 45, a designer for Fendi. Whether the Paris-born Lobkowicz—whose ancestors were rulers of France, Bohemia and Austria—is on the job as a New York Stock Exchange money manager, partying with pals in Paris and London or restoring the 9th-century estate he inherited in central France, he plays it contemporary. Being a prince, says the 5'11" Lobkowicz, who earned a B.A. in art history and political science at Duke in 1984, "doesn't stop me from doing my own thing, but it's certainly part of who I am." He plays the field too. "I have the life I want," he insists. "I'm not going to get married just to get married." Is he worth waiting for? "Absolutely," says his friend Francesca Amphitheatrof, 33, a London jewelry designer. "You would have a full life with him."
Prince Farhad Farman-Farmaian
He checks his voice mail and reports that he has "17 messages—most of them from girls—single, married—asking me to dinner, a ballet." That 28-year-old Prince Farhad Farman-Farmaian is much in demand comes as no surprise. A descendent of the Qajar dynasty, which ruled Persia (now Iran) for 130 years until it was overthrown in 1925, Farman-Farmaian boasts a royal title and an Ivy League degree (Brown University, class of 1996). He also is the president of Digital Form.com, which creates Web sites for clients including the Versace fashion house and the nonprofit Ford Foundation. "We call him Fast Forward because of his energy," says his sister Ayshe, 39. But the 5'10" Farman-Farmaian also knows how to kick back, whether at his Manhattan duplex apartment or his two-bedroom cottage on Long Island. "Evenings at his place always end up with people drumming on anything they can," says friend Vanessa von Bismarck, the great-great-granddaughter of the first German chancellor. "It's almost spiritual."
Baron Clement von Franckenstein
Because his family's titled status harks back to 1678, when an Austrian ancestor was made a baron by order of the Holy Roman Empire, the name Franckenstein was well-known in Europe when author Mary Shelley adapted it for her 1818 literary classic. But modern ladies meeting 57-year-old Clem should take note: "If a woman comes at me with a Frankenstein joke right off, it's a bad sign," he says. Born near London (his father, George, was ambassador to Great Britain), Franckenstein was orphaned at 9, when his parents were killed in a plane crash. Raised by family friends, he attended Eton before serving with the British army in the Middle East. In 1972 he moved to Los Angeles, where he works steadily as a character actor (he played the president of France in the film The American President and had a recurring role as Edward the butler on last season's Titans). The 5'11" Franckenstein owns a duplex apartment near Beverly Hills, but he hopes to someday buy back his family's ancestral villa in Altaussee, Austria. "When women find out he's a real baron, their eyes light up," says pal John Beven, 52, a financial consultant. But Franckenstein has yet to find his soulmate, who would be "over 40, smart, independent and buxom," he says. "I can't abide skinny, stupid women."
Count Marc de Gontaut Biron
During his youth in France, Count Marc de Gontaut Biron spent summers in a medieval castle with a view of the Pyrenees mountains. But it was another peak that he would end up climbing: Manhattan's social scene. "I wanted to lead my life and do my own thing," says the descendant of a 10th-century line of French aristocrats. Biron moved from Paris to New York City in 1982 and launched a career as a party planner. Thanks to his ability to draw high-profile guests (Andy Warhol, LaToya Jackson, Monaco's Prince Albert) to his extravagant galas, the 6'5" Biron became "a miniature Studio 54 all by himself," says pal Christina Oxenberg, 38, daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia. These days the 47-year-old count, who goes simply by Marc Biron, concentrates on smaller events such as the opening of a designer boutique or a party at a hip nightclub. Unfortunately for Biron, his reputation as a gadabout has scared off potential mates. "He's just not yours when you go out," says ex-girlfriend Alexandra Stafford, 40, a former New York City socialite now married and living in Metairie, La. "He belongs to everyone that comes in the door." But Biron says he's willing to give more of himself to the right woman—as long as she lets him plan the wedding. "I'd have to be very much in love," he says, "to surrender to her organizational skills."
