High Society

I have an unhealthy interest in the lives of uber-high society, which is both satiated and spurred on by Vanity Fair magazine. In this month's excellent issue: a profile on HRH Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece and her husband HRH Prince Pavlos of Greece and a detailed 16-page piece on Mark Birley, the founder of Annabel's in London.

Let me break it down:

Marie-Chantal is the second daughter of Robert Miller, self-made billionaire who made his money from Duty-Free Stores. Robert Miller has three daughters: Pia, Marie-Chantal and Alexandra. Pia married a Getty (yes, of those Gettys), Marie-Chantal married a bona fide Prince (though exiled) and Alexandra married Alexander von Furstenberg, whose father was some kind of royalty, mother is Diane von Furstenburg, creator of the fabulous wrap dress, and stepfather is Barry Diller, billionaire financier. Rumor has it that their father gave each of them dowries of $200M.

So you have the Gettys, Millers, von Furstenburgs, Diller and Greek royalty all related through marriage. Alexander von Furstenburg also happens to be a descendant of the Agnelli family in Italy, founder of the Fiat. Pia's husband's cousin's wife is Jacqui Getty. Before Jacqui married her Getty, she mothered the child of Giancarlo Coppola, son of Francis Ford Coppola. Giancarlo died in a freak accident that involved Ryan O'Neal's son. So add the Agnellis and Coppolas to the relations.

And who is Mark Birley? He founded Annabel's, a posh high society club in London. Annabel's is named after Lady Annabel Goldsmith, a socialite born into English aristocracy who was Mark Birley's wife. While she was still married to Mark Birley, she had two children with James Goldsmith, a billionaire financier, then later married him. One of those children is Jemima Khan, who is Hugh Grant's ex-girlfriend and was a good friend of Princess Diana. Jemima Khan and Princess Diana look eerily alike and I think Vanity Fair should do an expose on which of their parents slept with who, because I think they might be half-sisters. Jemima Khan's last name is Khan because she was previously married to a ridiculously good-looking Pakistani cricket player-turned politician named Imran Kahn, converted to Islam and moved to Pakistan for him before separating and moving back to London with her children. Jemima's brothers are Zac and Ben Goldsmith, who are both gorgeous. Ben is married to Kate Rothschild - of those Rothschilds. Her mother is Anita Guinness, of that Guinness. Zac is married to a model named Sheherazade but recently was rumored to have cheated on her with his sister-in-law by marriage, Kate Rothschild's sister.

Who needs soap operas? The real lives of high society are so much more interesting.