Gina Von Amberg

Princess Gina Von Amberg is a fictional character on the American soap opera Days of Our Lives, and its spinoff series Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem. The role was portrayed from 1998 to 2000 by Kristian Alfonso, who also plays Hope Williams Brady on the series. In addition to being a separate character who was Hope's doppelganger, "Princess Gina" was also a persona exhibited by Hope herself while under mind control. Alfonso reprised the role of Princess Gina after the character's death, both as visions of the real Gina in 2001, 2019 and 2020, as well as Hope behaving as Gina in 2012, 2019, and 2020 (and in non-canonical Halloween episodes in 2017 and 2018). Sasha Higgins stepped into the role for one episode of Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem in 2021. Character background Much of the narrative of Gina's life was introduced via flashback scenes and dialogue. Gina was married to Prince Philip Von Amberg, hence the title "princess". She gave birth to a daughter, Greta, soon after Prince Philip died in a yachting accident. Princess Gina became a skilled art thief and forger hired and manipulated by Stefano DiMera. In the 1980s, Stefano partnered her with his brainwashed pawn, John Black, with whom she fell in love. In 1985, Stefano altered John's personality and reassigned him. Believing John dead, Gina became mentally ill and no longer wished to paint, becoming useless to Stefano. He imprisoned her at her home, Chateau de Reves, in the countryside outside Paris. Stefano obtained a replacement for Gina by abducting the presumed-dead Hope Brady, who resembled Gina, and implanting a microchip that gave her Gina's memories and personality. Hope lived as Gina, Stefano's art thief and forger, for several years in the early 1990s until Stefano decided to deactivate the chip. Hope returned to her normal life, but with amnesia of her years as Gina. Storylines In 1998, the character Greta (Julianne Morris) reveals that Princess Gina was her mother, and that in 1990 she was informed of Gina's death. In actuality, a delusional Gina has remained imprisoned in France, with only her devoted manservant, Kurt, for a companion as she waits for John to rescue her. In 1999, after learning of Gina's history with Stefano, Greta decides to learn more about her mother's life and death; she and her friend Eric Brady travel to France and visit Chateau de Reves.