Hubertus Rudolph Prinz zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg (born 2 February 1959; ), commonly known as Hubertus von Hohenlohe, is a Mexican

alpine skier Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether ...

, photographer, and businessman. He was previously a pop singer using the names Andy Himalaya and Royal Disaster. He is descended from the former ruling family of the historic principality of

Hohenlohe-Langenburg Hohenlohe-Langenburg () was a German county and later principality in the Holy Roman Empire. It was located around Langenburg in what is now northeastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Starting in medieval times and continuing until 1806, this smal ...

in what is now northeastern

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Germany.

Life and family

left, 200px, Coats of arms of the principality of Hohenlohe; 1: Holy Roman Empire; 2: unknown; 3: county of Hohenlohe; 4: county of Gleichen; 5: county of Langenburg. He is the second son of

Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg Alfonso Maximiliano Victorio Eugenio Alejandro María Pablo de la Santísima Trinidad y Todos los Santos, Prinz zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg (28 May 1924 – 21 December 2003) was a Spanish businessman known for his promotion of the Spanish resorts of ...

and

Princess Ira von Fürstenberg Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for t ...

. He was born in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Mexico, where his father ran a

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

factory. His maternal grandparents were Tassilo, Prince of

Fürstenberg Fürstenberg (also Fuerstenberg and Furstenberg) may refer to: Historical states * Fürstenberg-Baar, county (1441–1559) * Fürstenberg-Blumberg, county (1559–1614) * Fürstenberg-Donaueschingen, county (1617–1698) * Fürstenberg-Fürst ...

(1903–1987) and

Clara Agnelli Clara Jeanne Nuvoletti (née Agnelli; 7 April 1920 – 19 July 2016), formerly Princess Clara von Fürstenberg, was an Italian socialite and heiress. Early life and family Clara Jeanne Agnelli was born in Turin on 7 April 1920 to Edoardo Agn ...

, and his maternal great-grandparents were Karl Emil, Prince of Fürstenberg (1867–1945) and the Hungarian Countess Maria Mathilde Georgina Festetics de Tolna (24 May 1881 – 2 March 1953). His grandmother is half

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

. He lived in Mexico for the first four years of his life and then moved to Spain. He later studied in Austria and his main residence was in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he worked as a photographer and artist. Although he has Mexican nationality, which makes him eligible to compete for Mexico, he only spends a few weeks per year there. He is fluent in several languages and grew up in Europe, mainly Austria. He had a brother named

Christoph Christoph is a male given name and surname. It is a German variant of Christopher. Notable people with the given name Christoph * Christoph Bach (1613–1661), German musician * Christoph Büchel (born 1966), Swiss artist * Christoph Dientzen ...

(1956–2006) and has two half-sisters, Arriana Theresa, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (b. 1975) and Désirée, Countess d'Ursel (b. 1980).

Max von Hohenlohe Prince Maximilian Emanuel Maria Alexander Victor Bruno de la Santísima Trinidad y Todos los Santos zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg (6 October 1931 – 1 December 1994) was a Liechtensteiner alpine skier who competed in the 1956 Winter Olympics. Person ...

, who competed at the

1956 Winter Olympics The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 ( or ), were a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from 26 January to 5 February 1956. Cortina, which ...

, was his uncle, and Prince Marco of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, 19th Duke of Medinaceli, was his first cousin. He acted as co-producer for

Yello Yello is a Swiss electronic music band, which formed in Zürich in 1979. For most of the band's history, Yello has been a duo consisting of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank; founding member Carlos Perón left in 1983. Their sound is often charac ...

and

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the James Bond music, theme songs to three James Bond films - the only artist to officially perform more than o ...

's 1987 collaborative single "

The Rhythm Divine "The Rhythm Divine" is a 1987 song by Swiss electro group Yello, featuring vocals from Shirley Bassey. The song was written by Boris Blank, Dieter Meier and Billy Mackenzie, and appears on the group's album '' One Second''. Single release The s ...

". He has work on display with the

Art of the Olympians Art of the Olympians (AOTO) is an organization and program of Olympian and Paralympian artists that promotes the Olympic ideals of values, integrity, character, respect, honor, and work ethic through exhibitions and educational programs. It puts ...

. He hosts the travel show ''Hubertusjagd'' on Redbull TV. On 17 June 2019 in

Vaduz Vaduz (; or ; High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' ...

, he married Simona

Gandolfi Gandolfi is an Italian surname, from a Lombardic given name Gundulf. People named Gandolfi * Ubaldo Gandolfi (1728–1781), an Italian painter * Gaetano Gandolfi (1734–1802), an Italian painter * Mauro Gandolfi (1764–1834), an Italian painte ...

, cousin of the Italian skier

Alberto Tomba Alberto Tomba Golden Collar of Sports Merit - Army Gold Cross of Merit (born 19 December 1966) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Italy. He was the dominant technical skier ( slalom and giant slalom) in the late 1980s and 1990s. At 1 ...

. He currently resides in

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

, of which he is also a citizen.

Sports career

Hohenlohe founded the Mexican Ski Federation in 1981. He first skied for Mexico at a Winter Olympics at the 1984 games in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, and he managed to finish 26th in slalom. After the 1984 Winter Olympics, Hohenlohe managed to participate in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, and

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Games. He qualified for the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, Italy, but the Mexican

Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

decided not to send a one-man team to the Winter Games that year. Hohenlohe has stated that the only reason why he continues to participate is because it seems that the "exotic skiers" (those from countries without a tradition in winter sports) are disappearing, and that he wants to keep that tradition alive. Since 1982, he has participated in 15 World Championships and set a World Record. Hohenlohe was expected to retire following the 2007 Alpine Skiing World Championships, after breaking his leg during a World Cup slalom race on 28 January 2007, eliminating him from the competition in

Åre Åre () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,200 inhabitants in 2018. It is, however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpe ...

. He came back to competition in 2009 and competed in his 12th World Championship, the 2009 Alpine Skiing World Championships. He was the sole athlete in the Mexican team at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

. He participated in two alpine skiing disciplines, the Men's Giant Slalom (78th) and the Men's Slalom (46th). At 51, he was the oldest athlete at the games. He also competed at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

, where he was Mexico's sole athlete again. He participated in slalom but did not finish after a fall during the first run. In 2015, he was joined by

Sarah Schleper Sarah Schleper (born February 19, 1979), also known as Sarah Schleper de Gaxiola, is an alpine skier whose career started in 1995. She competed for the United States in four Winter Olympics from 1998-2010, and later competed for Mexico at the W ...

on the Mexican ski team, doubling its size, at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships of that year. Hohenlohe, affectionately called ''El Príncipe'', mooted retiring for 2017, but instead decided to qualify for the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

. Another two hopes for Alpine Mexico, aside from Hubertus, and Schleper, are

Rodolfo Dickson Rodolfo "Rudy" Roberto Dickson Sommers (born 11 July 1997) is a male Mexican Canadian alpine skier representing Mexico. He was the first Mexican to win an international ski race, winning in Super-G in January 2015. Personal life Dickson was ...

and Jocelyn McGillivray. Additionally, three more hope to represent Mexico, Robby Franco in freestyle skiing, Sandra Hillen in snowboard and

Germán Madrazo Germán Madrazo Baca (born 15 September 1974) is a businessman and Mexico, Mexican cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skier. He competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics. Madrazo is the owner of The Valley Running Company in McAllen, Texas, wh ...

in Cross-country skiing. He failed to qualify for the 2018 Olympics, but designed the race suits for the Mexican alpine skiers.

World Championships results

Hohenlohe participated at 21 editions of

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships is an alpine skiing competition organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). History The inaugural world championships in alpine skiing were held in 1931. It consisted of Downhill (ski competition), ...

, from Schladming 1982 to

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2025 The 48th FIS Alpine World Ski Championships were held from 4 to 16 February 2025 in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria. The location was scheduled to be decided in May 2020 during the 52nd FIS Congress in Pattaya, Thailand, but was cancelled to t ...

, from the age of 23 up to 66.

Ancestry

References

Notes

External links