SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline)-Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband, Prince Frederic von Anhalt, on Wednesday filed papers to run for California governor.
Von Anhalt, who is running as an independent, is vying for the office along with Republicans Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner and Democrat Attorney General Jerry Brown, who has all but announced he is running to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Von Anhalt, the 67-year-old German-born socialite, says he is a fiscal conservative and social liberal, who wants to, among other things, open the U.S.-Mexico border and legalize marijuana to provide the cash-strapped state with additional revenue.
A former Republican, von Anhalt said Wednesday that he decided to jump into the gubernatorial race after his car registration fees increased by about $700.
"That pissed me off," he was quoted by KCRA TV as saying. "That's why I said, 'All right, I'm going to run for governor. Maybe I can do a change."
Schwarzenegger is barred by term limits from seeking reelection. Brown, a former two-term governor, is expected to soon announce his bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
Von Anhalt says he became a prince when he was adopted as an adult by Princess Marie Auguste, daughter-in-law of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was the last emperor of Germany.
He and Gabor, 92, married in 1986, making him Gabor's ninth husband.
"I used to call her darling and baby and honey," von Anhalt told KCRA of Gabor. "Now I call her first lady already. And she smiles. She laughs."
Three years after their nuptial, Gabor was accused of slapping a Beverly Hills police officer after he stopped the Hungarian-born actress for a traffic violation. She was found guilty of the assault and sentenced to three days in jail.
In 2007, von Anhalt attracted worldwide headlines when he claimed he was the biological father of the late American model Anna Nicole Smith's infant daughter, Dannielynn.
Later that year, Los Angeles police officers found him naked and handcuffed to the steering wheel of a 2006 Rolls Royce. Von Anhalt told authorities that he was robbed at gunpoint of his clothes and jewelry by a group of women.
From Legal Newsline: Reach staff reporter Chris Rizo at chrisrizo@legalnewsline.com.