In the nearly 130-year history of the IOC, Princess Norberta of Liechtenstein, Dowager Marchioness of Mario, also known as Princess Nora or simply Nora Liechtenstein, becomes the first "doyenne" of the IOC at the age of 72.
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In the history of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), January 1, 2023, marks a significant event as a princely family member from a 62-square-mile speck of Central Europe takes over as the organization’s longest-serving voting member. In the nearly 130-year history of the IOC, Princess Norberta of Liechtenstein, Dowager Marchioness of Mario, also known as Princess Nora or simply Nora Liechtenstein, becomes the first “doyenne” of the IOC at the age of 72. Though the Olympic Movement has recently welcomed the subject of gender equality with zeal, it has only been a little more than 40 years since it recruited its first female members.
With Princess Nora’s new status, which she should retain for the next eight years, comes the honor of delivering the closing statements at IOC Sessions. This will be a major change for someone who has kept a modest profile, at least in public, since joining the sport’s most renowned club in 1984. Princess Nora is accustomed to receiving media coverage from throughout the world. Before joining the IOC, she was temporarily caught up in a flurry of British media speculation about Prince Charles’s prospective marriage. A decade or so later, Princess Nora married the fourth Marquess of Mario, a Spanish aristocrat and Olympic bobsledder named Vicente Sartorius y Cabeza de Vaca.
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“It was a particular pleasure for me that I will be the last of an unbroken series of male International Olympic Committee doyens when Princess Nora of Liechtenstein becomes our first doyenne, said Richard Pound, the high-profile Canadian predecessor of Princess Nora to insidethegames. He further added that “his successor would bring to the position her profound understanding of the ethical foundations of the Olympic Movement and her sound judgment, all wrapped in a delightful personality.”
The British royal family, including Princess Nora’s now-IOC colleague Princess Anne, went skiing in Liechtenstein. The 15-year-old Princess Anne began to learn skiing on the slopes at neighboring Malbun according to an article in The Nottingham Guardian published on January 1, 1966, precisely 57 years ago. The newspaper also noted that the future Olympic three-day event rider ‘went through beginner’s paces in cold, overcast conditions.’ Prince Charles and his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, were seen shopping with Princess Nora and other family members on the same visit.
