Controversial British socialite (1926-2019) who achieved worldwide notoriety when he was accused of attempting to murder his wealthy wife, Sunny von Bulow, with an insulin injection that left her in a coma for nearly 28 years until her death in 2008. The case and its surrounding fallout inspired the 1990 film Reversal of Fortune, for which Jeremy Irons won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Bulow. Brown Homburg hat personally-owned and -worn by Claus von Bulow during his 1982 murder trial in Newport, Rhode Island, and, after which, he presented as a parting ‘thank you’ gift to Newport police officer Al Conti, who served as von Bulow’s personal bodyguard during the nine-week trial. The inner leather band is engraved in gilt with von Bulow's initials, “C. B.,” with the opposite side bearing the maker’s stamp: “Scotts, By appointment to Her Majesty the Queen, Hat Makers, 1, Old Bond St. London, W. 1.” Included with the hat is a framed ‘thank you’ presentation that was given to Conti for his protection services during the trial, consisting of an engraved color print of the “State House, Newport,” with the surrounding mat signed and inscribed by von Bulow, “To Al, Claus von Bulow,” and by a variety of news reporters and media journalists who also covered the trial. The presentation is framed to an overall size of 20 x 16. In overall fine condition, with fading to many of the insignificant signatures on the photo, but von Bulow's remains bold.
Accompanied by a photo of von Bulow wearing the hat outside the courtroom, as well as various newspaper clippings related to von Bulow’s initial guilty charge and 30-year sentence, which features a short article from the March 17th edition of the Boston Globe with the headline: “Von Bulow leaves his hat as the tip.” The article, in part: “Claus von Bulow didn’t throw his hat to the crowd chanting ‘Free Claus’ outside the courthouse—but he did present his hat as a gift to a Newport police officer before he left town. Alan A. Conti, a Newport policeman who had escorted von Bulow during the nine-week trial, held the brown felt hat, which the socialite had wrapped in a paper laundry bag from his hotel."
