Rui Ulrich was a monarchist and, after the overthrow of the Portuguese monarchy in 1910, he decided to leave Portugal, taking his family to live in Biarritz in France.

[1][2][3][4] While they were away, the couple's home on Rua Silva de Carvalho in the Amoreiras area of Lisbon, which was formally known as the Ulrich Palace, was rented out.

Her evenings were noted for her excessive displays, some of which would now be considered totally unacceptable, such as her practice of smearing the servants' faces in black, dressing them in leopard loincloths, and forming a guard of honour holding torches for the arriving guests.

She opposed fascism, announced on the radio that she was an anglophile at a time when Portugal was trying hard to be neutral, and took advantage of the position of her husband to tease Portugal's dictator, António de Oliveira Salazar, sending him an open invitation to visit the Ulrich house, which he declined.

The Queen is said to have asked Salazar to extend Ulrich's second term as ambassador, so that the couple could represent Portugal at her coronation in June 1953.