Mrs. Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir by Clint Hil (love letters to the dead TXT) 📗

“That’s wonderful, Nick. We sure are going to need your help.”

“As you know,” Nick said, “Prime Minister Karamanlis and his wife, Amalia, are the official hosts for Mrs. Kennedy’s visit, but they have given up some of their responsibilities as official government hosts to one of their friends, who is a member of the parliament, Markos Nomikos. Nomikos is quite wealthy—he owns a shipping company—and has far greater resources than the prime minister. Knowing Mrs. Kennedy’s desire for privacy, Nomikos has offered his villa in the seaside town of Kavouri, as well as the use of his one hundred-and-thirty-foot yacht, Northwind, which will allow Mrs. Kennedy to visit some of the islands.”

Giannoules and I would have to check everything out, and the fact that Nomikos was involved in shipping—as was Onassis—caused me some concern, but otherwise it sounded like an ideal arrangement, both from a security standpoint and for Mrs. Kennedy to experience as much of Greece as possible.

Nick had already arranged a meeting for us with the Greek minister of the interior, who controlled the police agencies, so we headed straight to his office. After the introductions, the rest of the conversation was conducted entirely in Greek. There was a lot of laughter mixed in with serious discussions, and while I tried to remain attentive, I could not understand a single word.

Just as I had in Paris, I felt at a disadvantage because I didn’t understand the language, but once we were back in the car, both Ken and Nick assured me the meeting had gone well and the minister had guaranteed the full support and cooperation of the Greek police and military agencies. You couldn’t buy better publicity than having Jacqueline Kennedy visiting your country, and it was evident that all of Greece, from the prime minister at the top, to the worker cleaning the street, was going to make sure this was a successful visit.

When we were back at the hotel, Ken informed me that he had discussed Onassis with Nick Damigos, and without divulging the reasons behind his inquiry, hadn’t been able to learn too much. Onassis had amassed an enormous fortune in the shipping industry, and a few years earlier had founded Olympic Airlines. He had been under investigation for some time by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and, in 1955, Onassis had been fined $7 million by the United States government for the illegal operation of U.S. war surplus ships. A criminal indictment that charged Onassis with eight counts of conspiring to defraud the United States through false statements made when buying the war surplus ships had been dropped.

We decided we’d keep our ears open for more information, but thus far, it didn’t appear as if Mrs. Kennedy would have any reason or opportunity to see Aristotle Onassis, and I still didn’t understand why the president was so concerned about him.

Over the next few days, as Ken Giannoules, Nick Damigos, and I worked with Greek authorities to make all the necessary preparations, Onassis became less of an issue than the language barrier. It turned out that all the official meetings were held in catharevousa—the formal Greek—as opposed to the everyday Greek language that had been used in the Giannoules household. At times, Ken had to rely on the body language of the Greek officials and quickly learned that an upward flick of the head meant “no” to our requests, while a roll of the head with raised eyebrows meant “but of course, you morons.” As it turned out Greek was Greek to the Greek.

While we were preparing every little detail for Mrs. Kennedy’s upcoming trip to Greece, she was creating as much of a stir in Vienna as she had in Paris. The news stories contrasted her young, chic, fashionable appearance with that of the dowdy Mrs. Khrushchev, and to prove the point there was a photo of Mrs. Kennedy leaning in close to Premier Khrushchev splashed on the front page of newspapers all over the world. Taken at a formal evening event at the Schönbrunn Palace, in which Mrs. Kennedy looked as glamorous as could be in a sleek white sleeveless gown, she appeared to be whispering into Khrushchev’s ear, and he had the biggest, leering, smile on his face—you could practically read what was going through his mind. By all accounts the official talks between Kennedy and Khrushchev had gone from congenial to heated, but the Soviet Premier was so taken with Mrs. Kennedy that she became the lead story.

The president and Mrs. Kennedy flew from Vienna to London to participate in the christening of Lee and Prince Radziwill’s firstborn daughter, Anna Christina, and then the president returned to Washington. June 7, Mrs. Kennedy finally arrived in Greece.

Mrs. Kennedy, her sister, Lee, and Prince Radziwill had flown by commercial jet from London to Rome, and then from Rome to Athens, where I was waiting at Ellinikon Airport to greet them upon their arrival. The weather in Athens was much warmer than it had been in Vienna, and even at six o’clock in the evening it was about 80 degrees.

“Welcome to Athens, Mrs. Kennedy,” I said as she stepped out of the plane.

She looked around somewhat timidly, and then smiled and said, “Hello, Mr. Hill.”

“Prime Minister and Mrs. Karamanlis are here to greet you, along with a representative from King Paul and Queen Frederika,” I said. “We have a car waiting to take you and the Radziwills to the villa in Kavouri.”

“That sounds wonderful,” she said. “I’m looking forward to some relaxation.”

When we arrived at the villa, Mrs. Kennedy was upbeat and excited. The villa had a beautiful view of the Mediterranean, and on this summer evening, the water was calm and the color of azure.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Mrs. Kennedy remarked to her sister as she looked out to the sea.

Prince Radziwill approached me, reached out his hand, and said, “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Stash, Mrs. Kennedy’s brother-in-law.”

“I’m Special