From aristocratic, eccentric friend of Sixties rockstars to TikTok sensation
IF YOU WERE anyone who was anyone in the 1960s and 1970s, then the chances are that you probably knew Prince Stanislas Klossowski de Rola—better known as Prince Stash. Marianne Faithfull, Paul McCartney and Nico are just a few that he rubbed shoulders with.
In recent years though, he’s taken TikTok by storm. From his castle in Italy, he documents his unique life. His castle is filled with antiques, from enchanted amulets to ancient daggers.
Prince Stash’s popular TikTok account (@realprincestash) has over 191,000 followers, introducing him to a whole new generation, as did a Gucci advert where he played Harry Styles’ father in 2019.
Owen Scott talks to the 82-year-old aristocrat about his remarkable life.
Do you think social media, like TikTok, is a good thing in how it shapes culture? I think that social media can be puritanical in some ways. We had a video where I showed a Turkish sabre that was bequeathed to my ancestors by a Sultan, which caused some controversy. It happened that an expert at a museum in Istanbul was very excited about the sword and I repeated his words, which caused the video to become banned because people thought it was an incitement to violence! It had been alleged that marks on the sword were a way to count its victims.
Another one of our videos “violated community standards” in terms of nudity. The video contained a fresco (an Italian mural painting), which you could just glimpse in the distance. A very ancient pistol in the background also, apparently, suggested violence.
What do you think of the content on TikTok in general?I think content on TikTok can sometimes be flimsy. People now have a 30-second attention span. Normally, I would never embrace such a medium.
I think it can be over-policed. Someone asked me about David Bowie and the adventures he and I had together, but I couldn’t talk about it because it would violate the community guidelines.
You're known for your androgynous Sixties style. Where did your style come from?As a child, I had such a passion for ruffles and satin; there is a picture of me, at age ten, wearing a top hat with ruffles.
In 1961, I starred in a film which was a precursor to David Hemmings' Blow-Up, where I played a photographer. I designed m
