Pope Leo hires European princess to manage Vatican’s finances

The Vatican has appointed a European princess to help manage the Holy See’s finances as her centuries-old family overhauls its succession laws to include women.

Gisela Bergmann, a princess of Liechtenstein, is part of a new team of experts announced by Pope Leo XIV tasked with keeping an eye on the Vatican’s vast wealth.

The 36-year-old was born in Austria and is the great-granddaughter of Emperor Karl I of Austria (also known as Charles I), the last monarch of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Her father is Prince Michael of Liechtenstein, making Princess Gisela a second cousin once-removed of Sovereign Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein.

On August 15, Liechtenstein, a tiny land-locked country between Switzerland and Austria, announced plans to change its succession rules to allow women to ascend the throne.

Until now, only men have been eligible to rule the small European principality, whose ruling family dates back to 1136.

Read more

Prince Harry and Meghan’s new UK lives likely to mirror Sweden’s ‘spare’, Princess Madeleine

The news of Princess Gisela’s appointment at the Vatican came days before Liechtenstein’s historic announcement.

Gisela was confirmed by Pope Leo to his Council for the Economy, a group of experts and cardinals charged with managing the Vatican’s finances.

The princess has the credentials having worked full-time running the principality’s wealth management business, Industrie-Und Finanzkontor.

She previously said, as per The Times: “We look at wealth and family from a holistic perspective, always thinking in terms of generations.”

Gisela has also worked at London’s Hannam & Partners investment bank and the former Midas Gold Corp, now Perpetua Resources Corp, a goldmining development company in Canada.

According to the princess’ LinkedIn, she studied at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, where she received qualifications in environmental engineering. She also studied the University of Liechtenstein.

Pope Leo named eight new members to the Council for the Economy and reconfirmed eight others, appointed by the late Pope Francis, for additional five-year terms. They include Leslie Jane Ferrar, former treasurer to King Charles III of Britain.

Ferrar formerly worked in the royal household between 2005 and 2015 and is now the trustee of the archdiocese of Westminster.

Pope Leo XIV succeeded Pope Francis following his death in April 2025 after a 12-year pontificate.

Leo, who made history by becoming the first American-born pope, was inaugurated at an historic ceremony at St Peter’s Square on May 18.

Royalty from across the world attended Francis’ funeral and Leo’s inauguration, with those present adhering to a strict dress code.

Just seven royal women are given the ‘privilège du blanc’, or the privilege of the white, allowing them to wear white in the presence of the Pontiff. All others must wear black or similar muted colours.

Most recently, during Pope Leo’s visit to Spain in June, Queen Letizia put on a sartorial display of royal fashion protocol as she and her husband King Felipe VI hosted the leader of the Catholic church.

The Pope is not only head of the church, but he is also head of state, or sovereign, of the Vatican, which is an elective monarchy.

Much of the pomp and ceremony of the royal court of the Vatican has now gone, but some things – such as the Swiss Guard – remain.

Pope Paul VI was the last Pontiff to stop wearing the papal tiara, or crown, within weeks of his coronation in 1963. His was also the last papal coronation.

And it was Pope John Paul II who replaced the old-fashioned sedia gestatoria – the throne-like chair held on the shoulders of men and used to carry popes during formal ceremonies – with the Popemobile in 1978.