“They’re very excited about getting married,” says spokesman Steve Rubenstein about media mogul Rupert Murdoch, 84, and former model Jerry Hall, 59, who had wed Mick Jagger during an exotic ceremony in Bali where a Hindu priest slit the throat of a chicken and spilled its blood to purify the venue. The marriage was legally meaningless and annulled.
Mr. Murdoch and Jerry Hall were introduced four months ago in Australia by his sister and niece. Socially, Mr. Murdoch’s attractively approachable, having met him, as we have, on various occasions. At novelist Danielle Steel’s annual Christmas dinner-dances in San Francisco when Danielle was wed to financier Tom Perkins, a Murdoch friend. Conversation was easy, and, the best way to inaugurate a conversation after an introduction to a guest, as our beloved mother Kaliope taught us, is to focus on “small talk.” Such as: Do you visit the Bay Area often … will you be spending Christmas here or at your Beverly Hills residence … Danielle serves these extraordinary rare vintage premier crus from Bordeaux, not often available.” Ta, ta, ta.
We’ve visited with Mr. Murdoch briefly at the Greek Easter Sunday celebrations hosted by Fox Entertainment chief Jim Gianopulos and wife Ann in their spacious Brentwood garden, where the signature of this holiday party is fun. Always good food from chef Ina. Hot bouzouki music from bandleader Nandos’ quintet. Dancing a la Grecque led by Rita Wilson’s schoolteacher sister Lily. Gung-ho Tom Hanks takes over the microphone and croons improvised Greek numbers. While the young Murdoch daughters, Chloe and Grace, play giggly games with Jim and Ann’s beauties, Alexa and Nicoletta.
Born to the purple of fine manners, Mr. Murdoch is a kind, friendly and elegant guest. Judging from the photos of him holding hands and cheek-kissing his soon-to-be-wife Jerry Hall, he radiates good cheer and happiness and a youthful spirit. Shall we attribute this to Jerry? What better than a new found love? At any age.
Melania Knauss Trump greeted journalist Alex Kuczynski in the triplex penthouse of the 68-storey Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan. Where the residence of Melania and presidential candidate Donald Trump and their nine-year-old son Barron overlooks the skyscrapers of this great and powerful city (sorry, Ted Cruz!).
“For her part, Melania has remained largely in the shadows of her husband’s campaign,” acknowledges interviewer Kuczynski in the February issue of Harper’s Bazaar.
All by design, informs Melania, 45, described as “tall, lithe and limber at five foot eleven … incandescently beautiful.”
“We decided as a family that this was something we would do. I explained it to my son a lot. I said, ‘Daddy will run for president,’” noted Melania. “‘They say I’m shy. I am not shy … I chose not to go political in public because that is my husband’s job. I’m very political in my private life, and between me and my husband I know everything that’s going on. I know everything from A to Z …
“Donald is handling everything very well. He is not politically correct, and he tells the truth … I give him my opinions, and sometimes he takes them, and sometimes he does not. Do I agree with him all the time? No. I think this is good for a healthy relationship. I am not a ‘yes’ person. No matter who you are married to, you still need to live your life. I don’t want to change him. And he doesn’t want to change me.’”
For details about how Melania and Donald met, their Episcopalian marriage followed by the reception at his opulent Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach (Hillary and Bill Clinton were paid to attend), please access our BHC column from August 2l, 2015.