Princess Thi-Nga, 43, married bigwig Greenberg Traurig attorney Steven E. Goldman in 2002 and, a few years later, landed a position on the board of the Miami City Ballet and began showing up at charity arts events and in VIP pages with the likes of art patrons Dolores and Sanford Ziff.

Her celebrity really exploded when the Bass Museum put on a show called The Private Jade Collection of Her Imperial Highness Princess Thi-Nga of Vietnam, which ran from Feb. 8 through April 29. The exhibit kicked off with an over-the-top parade down Collins Avenue complete with Thai dancers in satin costumes and face paint, a 60-foot Chinese dragon, a real live elephant and other hoopla. Sitting in the back of a silver convertible Jaguar, Princess Thi-Nga and Mayor David Dermer led the imperial procession.

Then local art gadfly Justo Sanchez showed up to spoil the fun. Thi-Nga was then — and still is — chair of the museum’s board of trustees and president of the Friends of the Bass. Those two details smelled like spoiled fish to Sanchez, who set out to bring down the palace.

Sanchez accused the Bass’ then-Director Diane Camber of not properly vetting the collection, said Thi-Nga’s connection to the museum made showing her collection a conflict of interest and went as far as accusing her of being a fake princess. The conflict of interest accusation prompted an investigation by the American Association of Museums, which eventually ruled there wasn’t sufficient evidence of wrongdoing to either suspend or take away the Bass’ accreditation.