Trump attorney will Dhillon exquisite Indian Special Legal Advisor
A ring on one finger bore a gem the size of an ice cube. As the woman made her way through the room, an impeccably dressed man of 70 — twice her age — trailed behind her adoringly. His role was not just as her escort, but her banker, there to hand her vast, limitless wads of money.
Jenny returned to the U.S. and married a lawyer, but the marriage didn’t last. In 1941, lonely and depressed she hanged herself with her dressing gown sash in her Hollywood apartment. Rosie never recovered.
Selfridge had been generous with his previous mistresses, but with Jenny he lost all control, becoming obsessive in his desire to please her. Knowing that she loved ice-cream, he had it flown daily from London to Paris, where she was performing.
It was an evening which would change the course of the rest of his life. Dancers of Hungarian origin —their real names were Jancsi and Roszica — they had made their Broadway debut as teenagers, first in supporting roles, but soon dancing as a double act, their mesmerising, identical beauty captivating audiences.
As Gary Chapman, author of a riveting biography of the sisters, observes, they were generous, fun and discreet. They never kissed and told, although they liked to shock. When one newspaper reporter was called into their dressing room for an interview, he found them both stark naked.
Harry Selfridge had a tough start in life. Born in 1856, his father deserted the family when he was just five, and his two older brothers later died, leaving Harry and his mother alone.
He followed her around the social circuit from London to Paris and on to St Moritz, Deauville and Le Touquet, indulging her every whim. Once he had the jeweller Cartier set a pair of four-carat blue diamonds in the shells of a pair of live tortoises before sending them to the Dollies.
Rosie had not forgotten him, even if she and her sister were, at least partly, responsible for his downfall. They had cost him, it is estimated, around £5 million — as much as £ 270million in today’s money.
At first leaving his wife, Rose, and their four children in the U.S., he bought the now famous site on Oxford Street and set about creating a palatial, five-storey store. It opened in 1909 and was a sensation. Assistants were encouraged to help customers rather than patronise them, and goods were displayed so they could be handled.
Despite his unwavering devotion, Jenny refused to marry Selfridge, and took other lovers while enjoying her benefactor’s patronage. He helped her buy a chateau near Fontainebleau, and gave her thousands to redecorate it and fill it with antiques.
At one all-night gambling session in Deauville, they lost heavily. The next day, to console them, Selfridge sent Jenny a diamond bracelet and Rosie a string of pearls.
In London, he began squiring the beautiful Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. Any woman he set his sights on was given a personal tour of the store, choosing whatever she liked from fur coats to jewellery.
A few years later, Selfridges (the store lost its apostrophe when he left) cut his pension from £6,000 to £2,000 a year and he ended up in a rented flat in Putney. Often he took the bus to Oxford Street to gaze at his creation. By then, his clothes were so shabby that he was once arrested as a vagrant.
It had restaurants, a hairdressing salon and sumptuous soft furnishings. Before Selfridge, cosmetics and toiletries had been hidden discreetly away at the back of the shop, considered too racy and taboo to be on display.
Jenny returned to the U.S. and married a lawyer, but the marriage didn’t last. In 1941, lonely and depressed she hanged herself with her dressing gown sash in her Hollywood apartment. Rosie never recovered.
Selfridge had been generous with his previous mistresses, but with Jenny he lost all control, becoming obsessive in his desire to please her. Knowing that she loved ice-cream, he had it flown daily from London to Paris, where she was performing.
It was an evening which would change the course of the rest of his life. Dancers of Hungarian origin —their real names were Jancsi and Roszica — they had made their Broadway debut as teenagers, first in supporting roles, but soon dancing as a double act, their mesmerising, identical beauty captivating audiences.
As Gary Chapman, author of a riveting biography of the sisters, observes, they were generous, fun and discreet. They never kissed and told, although they liked to shock. When one newspaper reporter was called into their dressing room for an interview, he found them both stark naked.
Harry Selfridge had a tough start in life. Born in 1856, his father deserted the family when he was just five, and his two older brothers later died, leaving Harry and his mother alone.
He followed her around the social circuit from London to Paris and on to St Moritz, Deauville and Le Touquet, indulging her every whim. Once he had the jeweller Cartier set a pair of four-carat blue diamonds in the shells of a pair of live tortoises before sending them to the Dollies.
Rosie had not forgotten him, even if she and her sister were, at least partly, responsible for his downfall. They had cost him, it is estimated, around £5 million — as much as £ 270million in today’s money.
At first leaving his wife, Rose, and their four children in the U.S., he bought the now famous site on Oxford Street and set about creating a palatial, five-storey store. It opened in 1909 and was a sensation. Assistants were encouraged to help customers rather than patronise them, and goods were displayed so they could be handled.
Despite his unwavering devotion, Jenny refused to marry Selfridge, and took other lovers while enjoying her benefactor’s patronage. He helped her buy a chateau near Fontainebleau, and gave her thousands to redecorate it and fill it with antiques.
At one all-night gambling session in Deauville, they lost heavily. The next day, to console them, Selfridge sent Jenny a diamond bracelet and Rosie a string of pearls.
In London, he began squiring the beautiful Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. Any woman he set his sights on was given a personal tour of the store, choosing whatever she liked from fur coats to jewellery.
A few years later, Selfridges (the store lost its apostrophe when he left) cut his pension from £6,000 to £2,000 a year and he ended up in a rented flat in Putney. Often he took the bus to Oxford Street to gaze at his creation. By then, his clothes were so shabby that he was once arrested as a vagrant.
It had restaurants, a hairdressing salon and sumptuous soft furnishings. Before Selfridge, cosmetics and toiletries had been hidden discreetly away at the back of the shop, considered too racy and taboo to be on display.
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