Monday, November 26, 2012

Luxarazzi 101: Claire Lademacher

Although we had some initial misgivings about Claire Lademacher, the team of Luxarazzi is now firmly on Team Claire. We hope that after you read this article that you will feel inclined to join us as cheerleaders on Team Claire (and Team Lademacher, in general). For years we've only known Claire as the girlfriend of Prince Felix, but she is much more than just that. 

Claire together with Lawrence Frankopan, who was one of Hereditary
Grand Duke Guillaume's witnesses to his recent wedding, and Princess
Alexandra a few years ago. (Photo: Oreste)


While there is no doubt that Claire is wealthy and attractive many people aren't aware that she is also intelligent, well educated and very hard working. 

Claire Lademacher is far from average. Her father made a fortune, estimated at around 600 million euros, during her adolescence. Perhaps because her father made his own fortune instead of inheriting it, he and his wife instilled the values of education and hard work into their children.


Claire is currently a visiting researcher and scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She is visiting from the Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum in Rome, Italy where she is a doctoral candidate (PhD). In addition to undertaking research for her thesis at the institute, Claire also serves as a guest lecturer on topics related to bioethics and organ donation. The positions as visiting researchers at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics are highly competitive. It is normal for the CV to stretch more than ten pages filled with advanced educational credentials, work experience and prestigious internships. 


Claire is working on her doctoral thesis at the Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum (PURA) where she recently completed her M.A. in Bioethics. The topic of her thesis is the bioethical evaluation of consent for organ donation with particular reference to Germany, Austria, and the United States. While she was a graduate student at the university she served as an intern with the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights. 
Claire and Félix in 
Miami earlier this year
(Photo: Getty Images)

The urge to study bioethics didn't come naturally to Claire. She became interested after she had already completed her bachelor's degree at the American University of Paris and began her working career at the Munich offices of Conde Nast Publications. Conde Nast is the publisher of lifestyle magazines like Vanity Fair, Vogue, and GQ. She later worked for IMG in Berlin.


Before she entered the American University of Paris she received her International Baccalaureate with honors at College Alpin International Beau Soleil in Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland where her contemporaries included Prince Felix and his cousin Princess Maria-Anunciata of Liechtenstein.

Born on 21 March 1985 in Filderstedt, she grew up near Frankfurt a.M., Claire is the daughter of mega-wealthy German software magnet and philanthropist Hartmut Lademacher and his wife Gabriela. Hartmut is a self-made millionaire who understands the meaning of hard work  He began his career at IBM in 1973. When he left IBM in 1990, after 17 years of employment, he had obtained the position of Manager of Project Marketing. He left IBM to establish his own business. Together with two other former IBM managers he established LHS (Lademacher Hertel Specifications) a company that specialized in billing and customer care for mobile networks. Within just a few years the company became a leader in the field and was turning out millions in profit and had established offices all over the world. He retired as CEO in 1999 but continued various supervisory positions (Chairman of the Supervisory Board, et al...) until LHS was purchased by Ericsson in 2007. 

Photo: Oreste
In 1995 Hartmut moved his family and part of his business to Atlanta, Georgia. He chose this location in part because he wanted to ensure that the children of his international employees would have access to a first rate intentional school. Like many of his employees, Hartmut sent his children to the Atlanta International School. The school was engaged in a fundraising drive so that they could build a performing arts center. When it became apparent that they would not meet their fundraising deadline the Lademacher's contributed one million dollars to the school. The construction of the facility continued on schedule and was named the Lademacher Performing Arts Center in honor of their generosity. The family continues to support the school. They were recently honored for their  generous support of the school's sports center. 

Even though Hartmut Lademacher is no longer associated with the business that he founded and guided to global success he has not retired from the business world. He now operates Sales Management und Marketing Deutschland GmbH (SMM). He has a diverse business holding. Mr. Lademacher has developed and maintained a business practice that gives back the communities where he engages in business. For example, when he purchased and refurbished a 300 year old castle in Croatia and built two accompanying marinas he used local staff, construction personal and building materials. It was his goal to contribute to the local economy and infrastructure. The castle and marina now make up a luxury hotel. Hartmut is heavily involved in tourism and wine production. He owns the 5 Star Le Mirador Kempinski hotel in Switzerland  and has other luxury properties in Germany, Spain and France. He owns and refurbished a castle and vineyard in the St. Tropez region. 

Additionally, he stays active in the world of business as (at least) a member of the board of directors of Le Mirador, WHS Capital AG, WHS Consulting AG and Wilhelm Hermes Steinkipper AG. He also owns H.L. Aircraft Leasing Company.

He also is an active philanthropist in his home region. Both Claire's parents originate from a rural area west of Cologne. Apart from building a shopping center and a high tech center, her father has given large sums of money to local sports clubs. Among the blessed ones are first division handball club VfL Gummersbach, who once a powerhouse struggled financially in the 90's, as well as the SV Schönenbach, his 11th division hometown football club.

Claire and Félix at a benefit gala 
in Miami earlier this year
(Photo: Social Miami)
Gabriela Lademacher's academic achievements echo those of her daughter. She has advanced degrees in sociology and art history. She has also completed extensive legal studies. She is an avid supporter of the Städelschule Portikus eV. foundation, that supports the "Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste" in Frankfurt a.M. by financing different projects with money or commodity contributions as well as groups of students so they can realize their work. Somehow she also finds time to be active in cultural policy and issues related to refugees. She works to promote all kinds of art. 

We feel like it is best not to reveal too much information about Claire's brother, but we can assure you that he is well educated and industrious. He is gainfully employed in the fields of private equity and venture capital.

Her parents are now dividing their time between Germany, mainly Berlin and Frankfurt, and Atlanta, GA, United States.

A few years ago, the family lived in Königstein im Taunus, a small town North-East of Frankfurt, famous for both its scenery and for being a preferred residential area for the rich working in the German financial capital Frankfurt. Interestingly, Königstein is also what brings us back to the Grand Ducal Family: Since 1806 the town has been part of the Duchy of Nassau and the Grand Duke also holds the title of a Count of Königstein.

What do you think? Are you on Team Claire with us?


Sources: Bunte, Creative Loafing Atlanta, Businesswire, Georgetown University, UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights, Atlanta International School, Radial Stiftung, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Edgar Online, Kupoge, The Adriatic Times, Culture Bot, Art Net, Academia, Oberbergische Volkszeitung

14 comments:

  1. Interesting! I have always been of team Claire, but now even more. She's perfect princess material, and i think an engagement is just a matter of time. Just wondering, where did you get all this info from?



    MT can be proud, she has some fine in laws with Tessy, Stephanie and maybe soon Claire. I bet Alexandra and Sebastian will do equally good relationship choices.



    Shame we don't get to hear more on her brother... now I'm curious...

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  2. Independent research and private sources. Sydney and I worked on the Team Claire project over the weekend.

    Bunte started it with their article so we decided to pitch in with our own contributions. You will find mistakes in many of the articles that have popped up today but we tried to be accurate.

    Her brother isn't a public figure. We hope that everyone will respect his privacy and leave him alone.

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  3. If only our Swedish Prince Carl-Philip could find a woman like Claire... She's perfect princess-material! Go Claire and Felix! Looking forward to a wedding between these two!

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  4. Wow, so she is so much more than millions and looks, good for her! they might just be wating for her to graduate to get married, hehe

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  5. i thought this is gonna be a more Claire-focused, but this focused more on her father and mother...

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  6. There is a LOT of new information about Claire in this piece. Her parents represent an important part of her life and their moves and history are also part of Claire's life. Claire's life is woven into the parts about her parents. For example, Hartmut opened an LHS office in Atlanta in 1995 he moved his family, including Claire, there. Most people are unaware that Claire lived in Atlanta, Georgia for several years and attended the AIS. We put a lot of new Claire info that you won't find in other articles here. But we didn't blast it. You have to pick up on it while reading the entire article including the points on her family. The article is Claire focused. Her family is an important part of her life and their background is her background.

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  7. I have been a long time fan of your site, thank you for providing updates on one of the most "regal" of European royal houses. Also, thank you providing this information on Claire and her family. I do have to agree with "Dino", there is a lot of information about her parents. While I find it very interesting, it could be used to fill out her CV and make her more accomplished than she really is when discussions begin to arise about her pre-royal life. For example, the Danish royal family used portions of the CV of Professor John Donaldson to fill out the CV of his daughter Mary (now Crown Princess Mary).

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  8. Well, this is what we published and not what the Cour grand-ducale published. We are in no way affiliated with the Cour, I even doubt that they are big fans of this site. All information provided in this post are provided by us, through private sources or information that are available online.



    The only information that the Cour grand-ducale has published about Claire's family are her parents names (Hartmut and Gabriele) and her brothers name (Felix) and that he is older than her. So they did not fill Claire's CV with information about her family. It was us who provided the background before the engagement was announced so that our readers are able to understand where she is coming from and what kind of familiar background she has.

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  9. People who are accepted to the Kennedy Institute of Ethics rarely need to borrow the accomplishments of anyone else to fill out their CV.

    The article was intended to provide background information on Claire and her family. We did not credit Claire with the accomplishments of her parents.

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  10. It has equally as much information about Claire as it has on her familiar background. Knowing about her family's background, how they became wealthy and how they are dealing with their wealth also tells a lot about how Claire was raised and the values instilled in her.

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  11. Claire sounds amazing and she will be a great addition to the family. Stephanie is wonderful, too.

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  12. Where is no date for her wedding with Prince Félix ?
    https://www.facebook.com/ClaireLademacherStyle

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