TRAVEL: The Golden Rain

Six thousand feet up in the Swiss Alps, in St. Moritz' Palace Hotel, 1,000 guests washed down a dinner of caviar and filet mignon with vintage champagne, then danced the night away until 7 in the morning. Among the merrymakers were Shipping Tycoon Stavros Niarchos, Cinemastars Linda Christian and Hildegarde Neff, Liechtenstein's Prince Constantine, Irish Beer Heir Loel Guinness. As the evening glowed to a climax, roly-poly Winston Churchill II, 16-year-old grandson of Sir Winston, leaped on a table, grabbed a cane, gaily began popping the balloons.

Last week, at the height of the season, 6,500 well-heeled guests crammed every room...

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