Tomaselli was born on 28 May 1957 at Placentia, Newfoundland, daughter of Maximilian Karl Tomaselli (formerly of Salzburg) by his wife Josiane née Preschez.[2] By birth, Sylvana belongs to the Austrian branch of the Tomaselli family, an ancient Italian noble family of condottiero and feudal lords, whose origins are in Piacenza. Members of her family later rose to prominent positions in both Italy and Austria.[3] She was educated in Canada and England.[4]
Marriages and family
She married firstly, on 25 December 1977 at Vancouver, John Paul Jones, son of Captain Geoffrey Jones of Barbados, but they divorced in 1981 without children.[5]
Lady Saint Andrews' Roman Catholicism no longer precludes her husband's succession to the throne. Two of her children, Edward (2003) and Marina (2008), were received into the Roman Catholic Church, thereby surrendering their places in the line of succession to the thrones of the Commonwealth realms, although Lord and Lady St Andrews' younger daughter, Amelia, is Protestant and is still in remainder to the British Crown.
She is a founding member of the European Centre for the Philosophy of Gender, Siegen, Germany,[8] and is currently Director of Studies in History and Social & Political Sciences at St John's College in the University of Cambridge, and a tutor for postgraduates.[9]