She might be known for her reclusive tendencies, but this week Athina Onassis made a rare appearance at Barcelona Bridal Week.
The 41-year-old, who has spent much of her adult life holed up in her heavily fortified mansion in the Campine, a region of outstanding natural beauty on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands, attended the Stephane Rolland show alongside Swedish actor Fredrik Dolk on Wednesday.
Unlike other socialites, who often can’t resist a multitude of invitations to lavish soirees and glittering public occasions, Athina has instead poured all her energies into her professional stables near Valkenswaard in the Netherlands.
Because, despite her vast inheritance, the granddaughter of Aristotle Onassis – the Greek shipping tycoon who married Jackie Kennedy while in a long-term romance with opera singer Maria Callas – has been a victim of the so-called ‘Onassis Curse’, suffering tragedy after tragedy.
Athina’s mother, Christina, died of a heart attack brought on by years of eating disorders at the age of 37, when her only child was just three years old.
Fifteen years earlier, Christina’s brother Alexander was killed in a plane crash, and their mother, Athina ‘Tina’ Onassis, died of a drug overdose the following year in 1974. Months later, Aristotle, who never recovered from his heir’s death, passed away from bronchial pneumonia.
Athina was also embroiled in romantic woes; her ex-husband, Brazilian showjumper Alvaro ‘Doda’ de Miranda, ‘was reportedly found in bed with a one-night stand in the $2million home that the heiress bought in Wellington, Florida, in 2016. Since then she has only been seen a handful of times.
Athina Onassis attended the Stephane Rolland show alongside Swedish actor Fredrik Dolk in Barcelona on Wednesday
After a three-year hiatus from public events, she first broke cover in March last year – and has since gone on to attend a selection of events, including Wednesday’s show, suggesting she might be turning over a new leaf.
Athina, dressed in a red co-ord, posed for photographs with her guest, a notable voice actor known for his work as Buzz Lightyear in the Swedish version of Toy Story.
The fashion showcase marked Stephane Rolland’s Spanish debut and was accompanied by live poetry and music.
In Athina’s early childhood, her mother gave her a flock of sheep, complete with a shepherd, when she learned the nursery rhyme Baa Baa Black Sheep. She also gave her a private zoo. On her 18th birthday, Athina was given access to her late mother’s $2.7billion fortune, reportedly making her the richest teenager in the world.
She has stayed firmly out of the spotlight throughout her adult years, and following the breakdown of her ten-year marriage to Miranda in 2016, she almost completely withdrew from public life altogether.
Athina is seen with her ex-husband Alvaro de Miranda in Brazil in April 2005, before they wed
On her 18th birthday, the heiress inherited $2.7billion from her mother, who was tragically found dead in her bath tub aged 37, when Athina was just three years old (pictured together)
In 2016 Miranda was discovered in bed with the woman by his wife’s security team. A well-connected member of the international showjumping circuit told the Daily Mail that Athina’s security team busted him ‘having sex with another woman’.
‘He begged them not to say anything, but one of them went straight to Athina. She immediately packed her bags and went off to Europe,’ the source said.
‘It was apparently a one-night stand, there was nothing serious going on between them.’
Miranda spoke to Brazilian magazine Epoca at the time and said: ‘I am really in the midst of a storm. But I will not give up on my love. It won’t be easy but I will fight until the end.’
Miranda has since gone on to marry another woman, journalist Denize Severo, and has welcomed three children.
Aristotle with his second wife and former spouse of US President John F. Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy Onassis
Despite being one of the wealthiest families in the world, the Onassis dynasty has famously been plagued by tragedy.
A decade-and-a-half earlier, Christina had lost her entire family in little more than two years. Her 24-year-old brother Alexander was killed in a plane crash in January 1973, and their mother, also called Athina, died of a drug overdose the following year.
Aristotle, who never recovered from his son and heir’s death, then passed away from bronchial pneumonia in March 1975.
Christina had four marriages, none of them lasting more than three years. Athina (whose father was Christina’s final husband, French pharmaceutical heir Thierry Roussel) was her only child.
Athina is now the only living Onassis grandchild of Aristotle.
