Now at the Opera Ball after all

Simone Lugner: “There is no year of mourning for me”

Simone Lugner would rather waltz than be a grieving widow at home.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

She can't please everyone anyway and she doesn't think much of the classic year of mourning. Simone Lugner decided to dance at the Opera Ball after all, accompanied by a camera team. She also told the "Krone" why! 

"Richard actually promised me that he would waltz with me at the Opera Ball," Simone Lugner said in the interview. A promise that the late master builder can unfortunately no longer keep. After a long back and forth, his widow decided to attend the state ball this year after all. "I already danced the waltz with Heribert in Graz, but unfortunately my dress was a bit too long then and I didn't have enough time to have it shortened." She doesn't want that to happen again at the State Opera - she wants to dance then, even if it means having a different partner than planned.

Heribert Kasper and Simone Lugner danced at the opera revue in Graz 2025.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

Then there are "those days"
She doesn't take the gossip in the run-up to her visit to heart. Simone doesn't want to remember that Richard Lugner complained about Heino's visit to the Opera Ball at the time, as it simply wasn't done in a year of mourning.

But she won't deny it either: "Richard was a different generation. The year of mourning used to be much stricter - some women really did sit at home dressed in black for a year. That's no longer the case and, for me, there is no such thing as a classic year of mourning! Grief is also something that changes. You grieve one way and then you grieve differently and you try to cope with everything somehow. And then there are those days when everything comes back, like Valentine's Day or maybe the opera ball or Christmas or his birthday. Yes, I think that will still be there after a year or ten years or three. The thought of him and then also this nostalgia, I'll miss him for more than a year!" 

Richard Lugner was a gifted dancer - here in 1996 with his star guest Grace Jones at the Opera Ball.(Bild: Starpix)

So even six months after his death, she doesn't want to miss the society event of the year. Only the dress is still missing - this decision will be made by the audience of the TV station, which will accompany the 42-year-old with a camera team on February 27.