RITA (née Carpenter), was born in San Antonio, Texas. She earned her bachelor’s degree, in history, cum laude, in 1971, and is an alumni of Harvard Business School, OPM 32, graduating in 2003. She, also, studied acting with America’s foremost acting teacher, the late Stella Adler, in New York City, in 1987.

Rita is a descendant of the ancient noble family of Waleran de Gyrlyngton, Lord of Gyrlyngton-juxta-Wycliffe in Richmondshire, England, which dates back to the year 1100 and the reign of Henry I.  Lord Gyrlyngton, a knight, fought in the second crusade. Subsequent generations fought for King Charles against the Parliamentary forces.  The Garlington estate, Thurland Castle, was destroyed by the Parlimentary army during the English Civil War.   Sir John Garlington, son of the Lord of Hackfort, was made a knight, Major-General and High Sheriff of Lancashire by King Charles I at his court in the city of York. General Sir John Garlington was slain in the king’s service in March 1645 at Melton Mobray.

Rita's ancestor Christopher Garlington immigrated to the United States, in 1638.  Subsequent Garlington’s fought in the American Revolution, in 1776, and Rita is a descendant of two President’s of the United States, George Washington and James Madison.  The Garlington family moved to Texas in the early 1800’s and founded the Garlington Ranch, a 15,000 acre property, located in Jasper, Texas and which is still in their family to this day.  Rita’s mother was born on the Garlington Ranch.  They are one of the oldest Brahman cattle breeders, in Texas.

In 1973, she became the Director of Research, for the Republican Party of Texas, authoring a position paper on the Presidential Preference Primary System.

1974, Rita was a visiting lecturer at the Taft Political Institute, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas.

In 1975, Rita held the position of Opposition Research Director of the Republican National Committee, under the chairmanship of Mary Louise Smith.

On September 10, 1976, Rita married Freshman Democratic Whip, John Wilson Jenrette, of South Carolina.  John Jenrette was described by the Washington Post as, “…the arithmetic of power…” when he and Rita attended a Walter E. Fauntroy fundraiser, in 1975, and Rita was picked, by the Washington Post Magazine, as one of the four dynamic young women of Washington, along with Helga Orfila, Susan Goldwater, and Mary Ellen Brademas.

Rita became a Research Associate for the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), one of the research branches of Congress, chaired by Hubert H. Humphrey, in 1976, where she wrote speeches for J.B. Cadarro and co-authored a report with Ray Hoehle for the Presidential Commission on World Food Hunger, specifically PL 480, the Food for Peace Program.  Hoehle and Rita did a country by country assessment of third world countries, the type of food aid they were receiving, from the United States, and whether the aid they were receiving was actually reaching the people who most needed the assistance.

1978, Rita was a Clairol model for the Leslies Blanchard campaign.

1985, she was a series three broker, on Wall Street, working for the Bill Murphy/Ray Dalio team, at Bridgewater USA.

Rita’s television acting credits include: "Fantasy Island", "The Equalizer", "Kate and Allie" and "Dream On."

She appeared in a lead role in, Cynthia Heimel’s, "A Girl’s Guide to Chaos," directed by Wynn Handman at the American Place Theatre, in 1988 and won the 1982 Los Angeles Drama Logue Critic’s Award, for best actress, for her role in "The Phildelphia Story."  Rita was cast by Michael Shurtleff in his play, at the John Houseman Theater, in New York.

Rita’s movie roles include a part in an Orion Classics Film, "End of the Line," starring Mary Steenburgen, Holly Hunter, Kevin Bacon, Levon Helm, Bob Balaban and Wilford Brimley.

Rita worked as an on-air reporter on "This Evening with Nancy Glass," in San Francisco, interviewing Lech Walesa, in Poland, and Imelda Marco, in Makeke Heights, just prior to her husband’s death.

In 1989, Rita became an on-air journalist on Fox television’s, "A Current Affair."  She interviewed an assortment of celebrities from Bill Wyman, Roger Vadim, Bill Cosby, and Roseanne Barr, to Henry Hill, to name just a few.

Rita started her own real estate company, in 1994, Garlington Jenrette and then went into partnership with John Sullivan, one of New York’s top residential broker’s at Brown Harris Stevens, to found Sullivan Jenrette.  They were backed by a derivatives firm, Intercapital, out of England.  Rita’s team, the most important of whom was George Williams, sold the General Motors building to Donald Trump. It was an elaborate flip from the Simon Group to Trump, helping the Simon Group to become the largest shopping center REIT, in the United States.  She sued Trump and an out-of-court settlement was negotiated with the Simon Group by then retired Senator Vance Hartke.

Crain’s Business magazine picked Rita as, "Power Broker, New York Style."

Rita is a Board Member on Barry Akrongold’s 9/11 charity to help victims of the World Trade Center disaster.  She has, also, worked with Partnership for the Homeless.

Rita resides in Rome, with her husband, HSH Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi, Prince of Piombino XII*, and she spends her time writing.  She has just completed her third book, a thriller.