OUR GUESTS: - Capri

Elsa, dalla figura sgraziata e tozza, i vestiti
luccicanti di paillettes e lustrini, faceva
la sua irruzione nelle feste, veniva
subito accolta da entusiastici omaggi e
fatta accomodare nella poltrona dell’ospite
di riguardo. Quando era lei ad organizzarle,
la ressa era incontenibile. Gli
ospiti, ma anche tanti non invitati, si
lanciavano in una gara frenetica per
parlarle e farsi notare. Elsa sapeva del
suo potere, e teneva sulle spine per ore
quelli che l’assediavano, mostrandosi
indifferente o addirittura stizzita. Ecco
allora fare a gara nobili, attrici famose,
ma anche gigolò, per avere un posto in
prima fila. A lei nulla sfuggiva e ricordava,
poi, il giorno dopo, con furia linguacciuta,
quello che si era detto la sera
precedente o solo immaginato. Ad ossequiare
le sue “grazie” un po’ sovrabbondanti,
vennero persino i duchi di Windsor
e Grace di Monaco. Assiduo fu lo
scrittore Gore Vidal, allora giovanissimo.
La principessa Soraya, arrivata nel-
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leading American publications. Her
remarkably successful features
firmly established her as the
sharpest society journalist in the
United States. And that wasn’t all.
She had also developed a talent for
promoting high-ranking politicians
and for arranging marriages.
Apparently, she was responsible for
the return of Franco and of the
“Communist” Hemingway to Spain,
and the marriage between Maria
Callas, of whom she was
enamoured, and Aristotle Onassis.
Elsa Maxwell’s ambiguity, also at a
sexual level, her biting wit and her
ability to slate someone, no matter
how important, with a one-liner was
much-feared, and highly-rewarded
by the networks and leading
newspaper syndicates in America.
As soon as Elsa Maxwell – who was
actually quite dumpy – came to
Capri, she set about organizing the
island’s society life. There was not
one aristocrat, captain of industry or
jet-setter who, mindful of one of her most well-
l’isola, corse a farsi vedere da lei. Anche
known quotes – “Laugh at yourself first, before
personaggi famosissimi come Barbara anyone else can” – did not rush to pay their
respects to her the moment they landed. By
Hutton, che da lei erano stati trattati “anyone else” she obviously meant herself, but
malissimo, non mancarono di visitarla. everyone was willing to put themselves at her
mercy in order to appear in her society column.
Quando, alcuni anni addietro, la When she arrived on the island she deposed
another “queen” who had ruled supreme until
Maxwell aveva imperversato con i suoi
then: the young and extremely wealthy widow,
velenosi pettegolezzi, riuscendo a sapere Mona Bismark, whose only weapons against
the American tornado were her snobbery,
sempre in anticipo i particolari più pic- wealth and Eddie, her great homosexual love.
When the inelegant, squat Elsa made her
canti del mondo di Hollywood, della
entrance at parties, dressed in sequins, people
Hutton aveva scritto con perfidia: «Si- rushed to pay tribute to her and she was given
the seat reserved for the guest of honour.
curamente nel mondo della celluloide è When she threw the parties there was no
la più grande collezionista di mariti (ov- holding back the crowd. The guests, and also
the many gatecrashers, fell over each other to
viamente miliardari) e di gioielli». Persi- talk to her and be noticed. Elsa was aware of
the power she had over them, and kept her
no Ali Khan, non volle mancare alla sua
admirers dangling for hours, feigning
corte. Le sue frasi, pesanti come massi, indifference or even annoyance. Aristocrats,
famous actresses and even gigolos vied with
consolidavano una carriera o la distrug- each other to be near her. Nothing escaped
her and the morning after she recalled with
gevano.
malicious vehemence what had been said, or
Una vera processione l’assaliva in simply imagined, the night before.
Even the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and
qualsiasi ora del giorno: soprattutto Princess Grace of Monaco came to
acknowledge her overabundant “graces”. Gore
quelli che appartenevano al demi-
Vidal, then a young man, was often in
monde, ninfette, arrampicatori sociali, attendance. Princess Soraya paid Elsa a visit
as soon as she set foot on the island. Even
nobili decaduti, si mostravano parti- famous celebrities like Barbara Hutton, whom
colarmente insistenti, nella speranza she always maligned, came to see her
regularly. A few years previously, when Elsa
di guadagnarsi un po’ di notorietà Maxwell had spared no one with her wicked ▼
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G. SIMEONE/SIME - SIE