We meet the Duke at the steps of his palace, or more properly the Castle of Duino built on a rocky spur outside Trieste in Italy. He looks at his watch. “We haven’t much time,” he says, in a perfect English accent, “so I’ll give you a quick history, the castle was founded in 1389 on the ruins of a Roman outpost, it was built on the remains of a site dedicated to the Celtic Mithras cult and the remains of the buildings they used can be seen over there,” he points to some small ruins on an outcrop jutting over the. “We hope eventually to do them up.” He looks at his watch again, looks at us, and then says, “right, follow me.”

Carlo Alessandro della Torre e Tasso is the third Duke of Castel Duino and can trace his lineage back to Napoleon and beyond (his surname is the Italian version of of Thurn und Taxis, one of Europe’s great princely families). He has direct links with the Danish and the now-deposed Greek royal families.

He’s also trying to turn his castle into one of the biggest tourist attractions in this part of Italy. To do that not only has he flung the doors of the castle open to the public – while retreating to live in a house in the grounds – he has also put on a show that combines, antiques, works of art and family history that works in a fascinating “meet the family” way.

He is helped by the fact that castle occupies a commanding spot near Trieste a city that wear its varied and complex history proudly. Until the First World War, Trieste was one of the great seaports of the world. The only port serving the vast Austro-Hungarian empire, it boasted huge open squares, grand buildings, opera houses and a cosmopolitan population that attracted such exiles as James Joyce. When the empire collapsed in 1918 and it was annexed by Italy, it became a city without a role.

It would be tempting to say that the same happened to the Duke, as it did to many other European royal families. But the Duke now has a role as the proud owner of a beautiful castle and – on the day we visited – as an enthusiastic and engaging travel guide.

We follow the Duke indoors and get a personal guide of the family treasures. ‘Look,” he says. “Here’s a dolls house given to by mother by her godmother who was the wife of Napoleon III. Look closely, there’s even a miniature edition of The Times.” We look closely to examine the first ever compact Times, but by this times the Duke has moved on again to a display of photographs of the Danish royal family. A book about his family’s history by Theo Aronson is also on show. It is called, not surprisingly, Family of Kings.

After the Second World War the house was used by the Allies as a headquarters, a move which has still left some scars. We move into a room which the Duke tells us was used as a kitchen. “When Prince Charles came here I showed him this.” He points with a flourish to a burnt and gouged section of the wooden flooring. We hang our heads then move on.

His grandmother features in another display as a friend of Sigmund Freud and the person who got him safely out of Germany before the Second World War. “She was played by Catherine Deneuve in a French film (Princess Marie) but Deneuve was nothing like her,” the Duke tells us with a flourish.We go on through room after room with more displays, more royalty and more famous names. Strauss, Liszt, Rainer Maria Rilke, Mark Twain and even Lord Kitchener, who went clay-pigeon shooting on the balcony.

Ever enterprising, the Duke now offers rooms. Couples can get married in the castle’s chapel and have their reception there and spend their honeymoon in the castle too.

We leave the Duke at the castle’s gift shop, where his wife is behind the till offering such upmarket gifts as crested toweling robes among the pencils, soap and cards. “I’m sorry you couldn’t stay long, but perhaps next time.” He waves a perfect;y manicured hand and smiles.

Il Castello di Duino

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