US-born princess vows to stay in Rome villa despite eviction order

Saga continues over property housing Caravaggio's only ceiling fresco as fifth auction fails to attract bids

A princess living in a villa in Rome that contains the only ceiling fresco ever painted by Caravaggio has said she would vigorously defend" her right to stay in the sprawling property after a judge ordered her eviction.

The US-born Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi, the only occupant of the 16th-century Villa Aurora, has been embroiled in a long-running inheritance dispute with the three sons of her late husband, Prince Nicolo Boncompagni Ludovisi, who was the property's last owner.