There's something of an old world-charm about Onassis's yacht, Christina O, currently berthed on the Thames at South Quay, Canary Wharf. It's here for the Olympics, and you can look over it for £15, which includes an audio guide and a 6-minute film about its owner, the shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. Well worth the money, it is one of the world's best known yachts, and a reminder of the times when Greeks were wealthy. Onassis had the former frigate kitted out to use as his floating home from 1954 until his death in 1975. After ditching Maria Callas in 1968, he married Jackie Onassis on the island of Skorpios, which he owned, and had the reception on board. (Always bed women above your station, had been his older brother's advice.) Perhaps Jackie O was amused by the whales' foreskins that covered the yacht's barstools – an item Ari always found went down well with his string of A-list guests. Today they are protected by leather covers, and the yacht is full of memories.
I have written more about Christina O here.
The romance between Onassis and opera diva Maria Callas was conducted on the yacht. It is also where he courted Kennedy's widow Jackie, whom he married in 1968. The vessel was one of their five homes. The Christina O was renovated a decade ago to become one of Europe's most expensive charter yacht births
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