Prince Rupert Loewenstein

Rupert, Prince zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, Count of Löwenstein-Scharffeneck (24 August 1933 – 20 May 2014) was a Spanish-born Bavarian aristocrat and the longtime financial manager of the rock band the Rolling Stones.

Early life and education

A scion of the former royal houses of Wittelsbach and Löwenstein-Wertheim, once rulers of Bavaria, Loewenstein was born in Palma, Majorca, Spain, the son of Leopold, Prince of Loewenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, who was brother of Hubertus, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, and his wife, Countess Bianca Henrietta Maria Fischler von Treuberg, descendant of Pedro I of Brazil. Both were of partial Jewish descent. Henry de Worms, 1st Baron Pirbright was his father's maternal grandfather. Following his parents' separation, he and his mother arrived in England in 1940. Loewenstein was educated at the then Quaker St Christopher School in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, followed by Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied medieval history. and he became a director of the resulting firm. Leopold Joseph had previously been family owned by the Josephs, and carried out only specialised lines of banking business.

Following the acquisition, the business was substantially expanded to include advice on issues and mergers, investment advice, and particularly currency trading. By 1971, the firm had become one of the principal dealers in London in investment dollars. That year, it undertook a capital raising with a target of a net £940,000 to enable further expansion. In 1981, Loewenstein left to start his own company, Rupert Loewenstein Ltd, where most of his clients were new money, who he described as "much more interesting than old money. People with old money are nearly always having to be adjusted downwards; those with new money are much more realistic." Jagger was of the opinion that the Stones' then-manager, Allen Klein, was not paying them everything they were due. Loewenstein also copyrighted the famous red tongue logo, and enlisted corporate sponsors such as General Electric for tours. In a 2002 interview, Richards said of Loewenstein: "He is a great financial mind for the market. He plays that like I play guitar. He does things like a little oil well. And currency—you know, Swiss francs in the morning, switch to marks in the afternoon, move to the yen, and by the end of the day, how many dollars?"

Loewenstein never got involved in the Rolling Stones' music. He said he preferred classical music and never played a Stones recording by choice; if he had to listen to rock and roll, he preferred the Beatles.

Personal life and family

On 18 July 1957, Loewenstein married Josephine Clare Lowry-Corry.

The couple had three children:

Rudolf Amadeus Joseph Karl Ludwig Emmanuel (born 17 November 1957) who became a priest in the Dominican Order.

They lived in Petersham Lodge in River Lane, Petersham, London, a former grace-and-favour mansion, purchased for about £2 million in 1987. It is an early-18th-century house, built for the Duchess of Queensberry, and Grade II listed by Historic England.

Loewenstein was named to the International Best-Dressed Hall of Fame in 2001.

Catholicism

Loewenstein was a promoter of the traditional Latin Mass and had a letter on the subject published in The Times in 1975. He was active in Catholic orders of chivalry and was a Grand Inquisitor of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George and president of the British association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.