There are fewer social rules than ever before, and there are absolutely none on how to announce the marriage of a middle-aged multimillionaire, who has just divorced his third wife, to the young and fashionable daughter of another multimillionaire. Last week the world got a hint that in the publicity-conscious 20th century, such an occasion should be arranged in out-of-the-way places with the secrecy that money can command.
The wedding was that of Charlotte Ford, 24, daughter of Henry and great-granddaughter of the Ford who founded the family fortune, to Stavros Niarchos, 56, the Greek shipping magnate. Niarchos is the sort of man whom old Henry Ford would probably never have met in his day and would not have understood if he had. About all the Detroit car czar would have respected him for is the fact that he is one of the few men in the world who could not be accused of marrying Charlotte for her money. Niarchos' wealth is hard to pin down in numbers, but it is more than $200 million.
Madras Shorts. As a child, Charlotte hardly seemed destined for such things. At suburban Grosse Pointe, she and her younger sister Anne padded about country-club terraces in madras shorts, smiled for the family photographers, and read comics instead of classics. Their mother came from an old-line Roman Catholic family (their father converted before his marriage), and they both attended strict Catholic schools, took their religion seriously. They seemed perfect "convent girls."
Charlotte was something of a wallflower until her middle teens. She was overweight and a mite bossy. But as the time for her debut approached, she took herself in hand, dieted, and straightened her posture. The night of the $250,000 extravaganza, dubbed "the party of the century," she was poised and pretty. Anne's debut two years later was the second party of the century and cost just as much.
After that, the two girls grew up fast. At their mother's urging, they went to Paris to study, Gstaad to ski. Their parents also showed up in Europe a lot, especially their father, who had made his mark as a responsible captain of industry when he took over the company on his grandfather's death and led it to new productive heights. He bought a yacht and began taking regular cruises to the Mediterranean every season. In 1960, at a party Princess Grace gave in Paris, he met Christina Austin, a lively Italian-born divorcee. They were married in 1965, a year after Anne McDonnell Ford got a divorce in Idaho. Henry and Christina now live in Detroit.
Pop & Camp. The first Mrs. Ford moved into an apartment on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, and the two girls with her. They were quickly caught up in the jet set, and, with a name like Ford, they naturally got a lot of publicity. Charlotte worked for a decorator, and both girls smiled radiantly from fashion magazines. They learned what there was to learn about pop paintings and camp culture, wore Courrèges suits and the latest "flip" hairdo. They were picked for the list of America's ten best-dressed women.