![]() The Christina’s fame and allure as the original “superyacht” owes itself to such illustrious and glamorous guests as Maria Callas, The Begum of Aga Kahn, John Paul Getty, John D Rockefeller, Eva Peron, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Rudolf Nureyev, John Wayne, Greta Garbo, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Prince Rainier and Princess Grace, and John F Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy, later Jackie Onassis, whom first met Churchill on the Christina. Onassis and his celebrated guest crossed the Atlantic from Gibraltar and cruised the West Indies before proceeding to New York City. While onboard the Christina, Churchill visited many locations, and it was on the yacht that he made his final visit to the United States in 1961. In Situ on The Christina: “The Other World of Winston Churchill” Onassis, apart from being one of Churchill’s great admirers, enjoyed his company and could often be found in deep conversation with Churchill, listening to his views. Onassis went to great lengths to make each cruise as easy and comfortable for the elder statesman.Ĭelia, Sir Winston’s granddaughter, observed that her grandfather had aged considerably after his retirement and was wonderfully happy on the yacht and those pleasurable holidays appeared to give him renewed life. During the period 1958-1963 Churchill, often accompanied by his wife, made eight cruises in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic on the Christina. Churchill was not only impressed by Onassis’ hospitality, but also the yacht which he described once in a letter to his wife, Clementine, of February 8, 1956, as: “the most beautiful structure I have seen afloat.”Ī close friendship between the two men developed. The introduction sparked a friendship that would prompt Onassis to invite Churchill and his wife, Clementine, to a dinner party on his yacht the Christina. ![]() Long thought to have been lost, ‘The Moat, Breccles’ was in fact aboard the Christina and is now being sold by the Onassis Family a century after its creation and fifty years after it was generously gifted by the statesman to the family.” Aristotle Onassis’ yacht, Christina, off the coast of his private island of Skorpios, 1968 – Photo credit Bettmann Getty Images.Ĭhurchill’s son, Randolph, introduced Churchill to Onassis at a dinner in La Pausa, France, on January 16, 1956. Jean-Paul Engelen, Deputy Chairman and Worldwide Co-Head of 20th Century & Contemporary Art, said, “Two of the most influential figures of the 20th century, Churchill and Onassis formed a remarkable friendship, which Churchill sought to honor by gifting a work that he treasured in his own private collection for forty years.
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