Von Anhalt says for the past 30 years, the couple has hosted lavish Christmas parties. But a courtroom faceoff last week with Gabor's daughter, Francesca Hilton, threatened to end that streak.
"The judge told me I'm not allowed to spend anything, so I have to spend it out of my pocket," said von Anhalt.
Von Anhalt is the conservator of Gabor's estate. He and Hilton have been at odds over his spending for years. Now, unable to tap Gabor's funds for parties, von Anhalt was going to cancel this year's Christmas gala -- until his friends and neighbors found out.
"I heard about Christmas. Somebody was trying to take the Christmas away," said party sponsor Gabriel Schmidt.
The donations started to come in.
"Whatever I can do and if it means writing a few checks, it's an honor," said party sponsor Alain Azoulay.
Now Gabor's mansion is sporting a Christmas tree that von Anhalt says costs $4,000.
"Nobody -- Nobody is going to take Christmas away from me and my wife," said von Anhalt.
Von Anhalt says the 17-foot Noble Fir will be surrounded with 20 tons of real snow for a Dec. 22 party, with a red carpet right down the middle.
"It's going to be a white Christmas. When you come up here, the snow is that high. You can have a real snowball fight. And after the snowball fight, you come inside and you get a nice hot drink," said von Anhalt.
Sadly, Gabor won't be decorating the tree. The 96-year-old actress is still bedridden. But von Anhalt says she will definitely see the tree.
"First, we decorate it. And then in the evening when it's dark, I take a nice video of it and then I go inside and I put it on a big screen. She will see it. She won't see very much, but I know she's going to smile," said von Anhalt.
Von Anhalt is planning for about 150 people at the party. One who won't be mingling is Gabor. But close friends will be allowed to visit her in her room. It's a holiday treat that von Anhalt says she always looks forward to.
"My wife is 97 in two months. How many Christmases is she going to be with us? So let's make every day a Christmas Day," he said.
