Their Last Suppers: Legends of History and Their Final Meals Page 5
Heat ¼ pint double cream with a vanilla pod to almost boiling, then leave to cool for 30 minutes.
Take out the vanilla pod and stir in the remaining cream and ½ tsp castor sugar.
DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES
Paris, France
August 30, 1997
I will never become Queen. Instead I wish to
become a queen in people’s hearts.
—Diana, “Queen of Hearts,” November 20, 1993
Despite being born into a royal environment, with her family living on the queen’s Sandringham Estate and the queen herself the chief guest at her parents’ wedding, Diana Spencer was totally unprepared for the staid and disciplined life of a Windsor royal.
Marrying the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, in a fairytale wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral in front of a worldwide television audience in July 1981 seemed to be a dream come true for her. But although she had two children with the prince, the gap in their ages and many personal differences gradually forced them further and further apart.
With the prince finally confirming his adultery with his longtime consort Camilla Parker-Bowles in a television interview, it was only a matter of time until they separated. In retaliation, Diana gave an interview of her own in 1993, opening the world’s eyes to her own unhappiness in the marriage, severe postpartum depression, bulimia, and tense relationship with the rest of the royal family.
Pressured by the queen to accept a divorce from Charles, she eventually agreed, and it was granted on August 28, 1996, a day she later described as “the saddest day of my life.”
Away from the restrictive life of the palace and finally single, she threw herself into various charity works, visiting Mother Teresa in 1997 and auctioning off some seventy-nine of her ball gowns for charity, raising more than £3.5 million for the needy.
After years of a loveless marriage, she began to date other men, arriving at one film premiere after another with a string of eligible bachelors. Army Officer James Hewitt was one, and to her horror he wrote a book about their “intimate times.” England rugby captain Will Carling was another partner who helped feed the growing tabloid frenzy that followed her everywhere.
Indeed, for someone who had been so shy and reserved on her entrance to public life, she began to relish the glare of the spotlight. Becoming close friends with Gianni Versace, Elton John, and many other celebrities, she seemed to find a way into the newspaper headlines almost every day.
Her long-time butler, Paul Burrell, revealed that she had had an affair with London heart doctor Hasnat Khan for more than 2 years, and he was often smuggled in and out of her palace home in the trunk of a car to visit her.
For all her outward charm, the princess also had several dark aspects to her character. The last years of her life saw her feuding with her family, particularly her brother and mother, whom she didn’t speak to for months on end. She had a particularly frosty relationship with the queen’s husband, Prince Philip, who had never liked her, and the queen herself, who had taken her son’s side against her at every turn.
Although she became very attached to Hasnat Khan, she soon realized that he was not going to be the long-term answer for her, and so she started dating Dodi Fayed, a multimillionaire son of Mohamed Al-Fayed, the owner of Harrods store in London and the Ritz Hotel in Paris.
Although in the last 3 months of her life records show they saw each other only about fourteen times, Diana was continuously dropping hints to the media about their possible long-term future together, which encouraged the paparazzi to follow her even more, eager for the latest gossip.
The morning of Saturday, August 30, 1997, found Diana and Dodi on holiday in Sardinia. Encounters with two photographers caused them to leave their vacation home early, to spend an evening in Paris together.
The arrival of the Fayed customized Gulfstream jet, in the distinctive green and gold colors of the Harrods department store, sent a buzz through the press in Paris, who suspected the couple were on the verge of making a big announcement. Looking for some peace and quiet, the couple, driven by her bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, left the airport for a tour of Villa Windsor, a home owned by the Fayeds but once occupied by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
Once again they were hounded by the paparazzi on motorcycles, who were determined to get as many pictures as they could of the happy couple, sensing an imminent major announcement.
Having always courted the press, Diana now found she could not escape them, even when she wanted to. So the frustrated couple returned to the Ritz to prepare for their evening together and a romantic dinner at the Bistro Chez Benoit in the Rue Saint-Martin.
Perhaps an indication of Dodi’s expectations of the evening was that during the day he had taken possession of a £130,000 diamond solitaire ring he had specially ordered for her some 10 days previously.
Leaving the Ritz for their dinner, they were once again followed by the press, with a dozen motorcycles dogging their every move. They finally decided a quiet night was out of the question and decided to take refuge back at the hotel.
Finally seated for dinner at the famous seafood restaurant L’Esparon, they looked forward to the peaceful end of a long day. But once again nosy onlookers made them unable to really enjoy themselves, so they adjourned to the Imperial Suite to finish their meal. Curiously deciding to finish the evening at Dodi’s apartment across Paris, they designed a scheme to give the waiting paparazzi the slip.
Sending decoy cars from the front of the Ritz, they slipped out of the back door at 12:30 a.m. and into a dark Mercedes driven by the assistant of security at the Ritz, Henri Paul, once again accompanied by Diana’s bodyguard, Rees-Jones. Their trick didn’t work for long. The Mercedes was quickly spotted and enveloped by even more photographers on motorcycles, constantly snapping away.
The Mercedes sped away down the Rue Cambon, heading for the underpass at Place de L’Alma. For some reason Paul kept accelerating to escape the bikes, and just inside the underpass, he lost control. The car hit the side of the tunnel and then the thirteenth central pillar, the impact crushing the front of the car and spinning it around. The driver and Dodi Fayed were killed instantly, and Rees-Jones, the only one wearing a seat belt, sustained terrible injuries to his face and chest.
Diana lay crumpled with serious head and chest injuries, while around the accident the photographers still swarmed, taking flash photographs of the grisly scene.
The first two police officers at the crash stated that some fifteen paparazzi were aggressively preventing them from tending the injured, precious minutes in which Diana could have been treated. It eventually took fire crews more than 1 hour to cut Diana from the wreckage, and although doctors worked on her for more than 2 hours at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, she was pronounced dead at 4 a.m. that morning.
The whole world was stunned, and England in particular went into a state of shock. Her funeral was the biggest gathering ever in England, and the whole nation mourned her for days. In death, Diana, Princess of Wales, finally became the nation’s Queen of Hearts.
MENUS
Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed had their last dinner at the Imperial Suite, Ritz Hotel, Paris.
For Diana
Asparagus and Mushroom Omelet Appetizerz
Dover Sole with Vegetables Tempura
For Dodi
Grilled Turbot
Tattinger Champagne
Diana’s Favorite Food
Watercress Soup
Asparagus and Mushroom Omelet
4 lightly poached fresh asparagus tips
3 fresh farm eggs
4 oz white sliced button mushrooms
2 oz fresh butter
fresh ground black pepper and sea salt to taste
Lightly sauté the mushroom slices in 1 oz butter. Keep the asparagus tips warm over a steamer. Melt the remaining butter gently in a 6- to 8-inch omelet pan.
Beat the eggs; add salt and pepper to taste. When the butter has melted and is getting hot,
pour the eggs into the pan. Allow the omelet to get firm by moving the soft portions of the egg from the sides gently to the center using a wooden spatula.
When it looks sufficiently firm, flip it; this traps oxygen on the omelet’s underside and makes the dish extra fluffy. If you think flipping is too risky, place the pan under a hot grill for about a minute. Lay the asparagus and mushroom slices in the center and fold out onto a warm plate in a semicircle shape. Serve with fresh lemon and a sprig of parsley.
Vegetable Tempura (2)
2 medium cucumbers
½ medium eggplant
1 large carrot
½ small yellow onion
For the batter
1 egg
½ cup ice water
½ cup flour
salt and pepper
oil for deep frying
Using a potato peeler, pare strips of peel from the cucumbers and eggplant to give a striped effect. Cut the vegetables into strips about inch wide and 3 to 4 inches long. Place them in a colander and sprinkle with salt, allow to rest for 25 minutes, then rinse under cold water. Drain well.
Thinly slice the onion from top to base, discarding the center. Separate the strips.
Mix all the vegetables together and season with salt and pepper.
Make the batter immediately before frying. Mix the egg and ice water in a bowl, then sift in the flour. Mix briefly with a fork; the batter should be a little lumpy.
Dip the vegetables in batter, place them one at a time in hot oil, and fry at 350°F for about 3 minutes until golden.
Serve with salt, slices of lemon, and soy sauce.
Grilled Turbot
4 (8-oz) center slices of turbot
3 oz extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp chopped rosemary
1 tsp chopped thyme
1 finely chopped bay leaf
2 tsp crushed fennel seeds
1 tsp crushed black peppercorns
sea salt
Preheat the grill to high.
Mix the oil, herbs, fennel, crushed peppercorns, and 1 tsp sea salt in a bowl, add the turbot and turn so they are well coated.
Place on an oiled baking tray skin side down and grill for about 7 to 8 minutes.
Serve with half a lemon and watercress.
Dover Sole (4)
8 double fillets of Dover sole
4 oz butter
½ cup flour
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Coat the fish with flour and lightly pat.
Place ½ the butter and 2 spoons of the oil in a large frying pan on medium heat.
Shake flour from the fish and fry gently for 3 minutes each side until lightly golden.
Diana’s Homemade Watercress Soup
12 oz fresh watercress with large stems removed
2 oz butter
2 oz flour
2 pints chicken stock
1 pint single cream
Heat butter gently and slowly stir in flour.
When it is a smooth paste, remove from heat, slowly add stock and watercress, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Puree in a blender, return to heat, add cream, and serve.
JOHN F. KENNEDY
Dallas, Texas
November 22, 1963
Ask not what your country can do for you; ask
what you can do for your country.
—Presidential inaugural address, January 20, 1961
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the twenty-fifth president of the United States, was born into the wealthy Kennedy family in 1917. Using the family name and money helped him serve three terms in the House of Representatives, running as a Democrat from Massachusetts. On becoming the first Roman Catholic president, he adopted an ambitious and liberal program called the New Frontier and embraced civil rights, admiring the stance of dynamic black leaders such as Martin Luther King. Much of his progressive legislation was eventually blocked by a U.S. Congress that was resistant to any leveling of the playing fields for the country’s minorities.
Kennedy summed up his feelings of frustration in a witty way: “The United States Government is sitting down at Geneva in talks with the Soviet Union. I cannot understand why the city council of Albany, Georgia, cannot do the same for its own American citizens.”
Within a week of taking office, Kennedy was being guided toward the infamous Bay of Pigs fiasco, a CIA project to remove Castro from power in Cuba. He was assured by his joint chiefs of staff that the Cuban exiles being trained for the invasion were well prepared, even though the force included sixty-year-old Catholic priests, musicians, factory workers, and lawyers. He gave the green light, and the force left the Nicaraguan port of Puerto Cabezas on April 10.
Within 6 days it was all over. Castro had some 1,200 prisoners, and the Kennedy administration was humiliated. Astonishingly, in early May a Gallup poll revealed Kennedy to be more popular than ever, with a whopping 82 percent of the population supporting him. Kennedy quipped to his aides, “It’s just like Eisenhower; the worse I do, the more popular I get.”
The next year his firm stance against the Soviet Union placing missiles in Cuba brought him even more plaudits, and although the Vietnam war was starting to unravel around him, Kennedy’s enthusiastic launch of the space program and creation of the Peace Corps kept Americans’ minds focused on what looked like exciting new frontiers for their country and their dynamic, handsome young president.
However, behind the smiling good looks and relaxed demeanor, newly declassified documents reveal a president who went through daily agonies due to severe medical ailments. At one point he was taking eight types of medication a day and eight injections at a time for a naval injury that had shattered three vertebrae in his back. Methadone, codeine, methylphenidate, chlordiazepoxide, gamma globulin, and testosterone were administered daily to control colitis, urinary tract infection, and Addison’s disease, a life-threatening condition of the kidneys. The handsome, athletic president the country so looked up to sometimes could not even put on his socks in the morning without assistance. The files show he took painkillers, antianxiety drugs, stimulants, and sleeping pills as well as hormones. And in times of stress he took extra doses.
However, there was one part of his anatomy that seemed to work just fine. For all the medical problems he endured, one aspect that doesn’t seem to have been impaired was his sex life. In later years, despite the efforts of his powerful family to keep his reputation pristine, affair after affair finally became public knowledge—most famously of all, his relationship with movie star Marilyn Monroe.
The press of the day loyally refused to pursue any rumors about their hero the president, who was leading America to a brighter tomorrow. The pictures of him and his wife, Jacqueline, always looked the epitome of wedded bliss, and women flocked to have their hair or makeup done “the Jackie way.” She would eventually move on from being married to the most powerful man on earth, to being married to the richest—Greek shipping owner Aristotle Onassis.
Kennedy made a tough Texan, Lyndon Johnson, his vice president, and in a move to reduce infighting in the Democratic Party, he elected to take a tour of Texas in late November 1963. Waking up in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, November 22, the president stretched and went downstairs for breakfast with local Democratic dignitaries before moving on to Caswell Air Force Base, where he boarded Air Force One, while the Johnson party flew behind in Air Force Two.
When they landed in Dallas on a bright sunny day at 11:39 a.m., a decision was made to leave the bulletproof glass bubble top off the presidential limousine because the temperature was a pleasant 76°F, and the president would have more access to the people eager to see him.
The twenty-four-car motorcade swept through Dallas, with more than 250,000 Texans straining to get a look at their dynamic president. As the convoy moved into Dealey Plaza, 5 minutes from the hotel and lunch, the president was waving his arms at a group of schoolkids when suddenly a shot rang out, followed by another. The
president fell forward, and Governor John Connally, who was traveling with him, was also hit. Accelerating away from the ambush the limousine raced to the nearest medical facility. Although they reached the hospital within 6 minutes, President Kennedy was declared dead at 12:55 p.m., to a shocked nation.
To this day the controversy over who killed JFK goes on. A drifter named Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested immediately, but he was himself shot by nightclub owner Jack Ruby only 2 days later. The Warren Commission in 1963 concluded that there could only have been one gunman, but in 1979 another special commission concluded that “there was more than one assassin and a wider conspiracy.” Some speculate it was revenge by Castro or the Mafia, or that the CIA was behind the assassination of their own president.
Recent investigations have found that as many as forty-two people connected to the event were murdered or disappeared in the months after Kennedy’s death. His relationship with Marilyn Monroe and other women finally came to light, tarnishing the image of the “Camelot” he had sought so hard to project. Thousands of pages of records concerning his murder lie frozen by Congress to this day, implying that the true perpetrators of his death still lie hidden somewhere in top-secret files.