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When a Greek shipping magnate and a stylish presidential widow get hitched, gossip is sure to circulate. We came for this book’s cover but stayed for the purple prose, which spares no adjectives in its breathless interpretation of Ari and Jackie’s famous courtship.

The book’s title doesn’t lie, either. Included within is a tally of expenses incurred by the couple during their first year of marriage. Here, we’ll give you a taste:

Here’s what the duo spent during the year following their October 28, 1968 wedding:

WEDDING: $40,500
(On Onassis’s private island)

HOMES: $4,635,000
(Rent, construction, and decoration of assorted apartments and villas in at least 6 cities.)

SERVANTS: $1,393,800
(202 full-time servants)

SECURITY: $84,000
(Personal bodyguards plus 24-hour surveillance at miscellaneous homes.)

YACHT (the Christina): $1,140,000

JEWELRY: $5,000,000
With love from Ari to Jackie

ART: $887,000

PERSONAL EXPENSES: $1,269,500

ALLOWANCES FOR CHILDREN: $205,000
Alexander Onassis (Ari’s son): $100,000 allowance
Christina Onassis (Ari’s daughter): $75,000 allowance
Caroline and John Kennedy (Jackie’s kids with JFK): $30,000 allowance

ARI’S RELATIVES: $125,000
Monetary gifts to some 50 family members

GIFTS FROM ARI TO OTHERS (not family or Jackie): $1,118,000

AUTOMOBILES: $29,600
(12 cars plus chauffeured limos.)

ENTERTAINING: $190,860
(Yacht parties, nightclubs, additional lavish celebrations)

TRAVEL: $178,000
“This item does not include the cost of traveling on the Christina.”

MEDICAL: $22,000
Fun fact: the two employed a personal full-time doctor in Greece.

INSURANCE: $1,906,000
(Protection for themselves, families, and high-value assets.)

TAXES: $2,072,000

MISCELLANEOUS: $20,000
“Even a billionaire loses some small change he can’t account for.”

Looking for another entry in the Ostentatious Celebrity genre? Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger’s Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century is your next stop.

Thanks to our friends at Flat Vernacular for the excellent backdrops behind these titles.

Tags: literary rx