Cristina Ford
Born
Maria Cristina Vettore

(1929-06-24)June 24, 1929
Vicenza, Italy
DiedDecember 25, 2008(2008-12-25) (aged 79)
Rome, Italy
Known forMarriage to Henry Ford II
Spouses
Robin Willoughby Merivale Austin
​
​
(m. 1946; div. 1955)​
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1965; div. 1976)​

    Maria Cristina Vettore Austin (June 24, 1929 – December 25, 2008) was an Italian socialite who became better known as Cristina Ford or Mrs. Henry Ford II, due to her marriage to Henry Ford II, the chief executive officer of the Ford Motor Company.

    Biography

    Maria was born on June 24, 1929, in Grancona near Vicenza, Italy, and educated in Milan. Her father was Edoardo Vettore of Milan, who died when she was a child. Her mother was Lavina Ferron.[1]

    First marriage

    Cristina first married Robin Willoughby Merivale Austin (married on 20 August 1946), a Canadian from Montreal serving in the British Royal Navy. They divorced in Quebec, Canada in 1955.

    Second marriage

    Cristina met Henry Ford II in 1960 during a party at Maxim's in Paris, France.[2] She became Ford's second wife on February 19, 1965.[1] While married to Henry Ford II, she was described by LIFE magazine as a "highly effective ambassadress for the Ford Motor Company". In 1969, the Women's Wear Daily called her "the complete Italian". In 1973, Cristina Ford was listed on the International Hall of Fame of the International Best Dressed List.[3] In 1975, Henry Ford II reportedly had an affair with model Kathy DuRoss, who would later become his third wife.[4] In 1976, after eleven years of marriage, Henry Ford II and Cristina Ford ended the marriage, with Cristina receiving US$16 million (equivalent to $82,283,041 in 2022).[5] In 1988, Cristina Ford filed a suit against Henry Ford II's estate seeking an expanded alimony claim worth an additional US$5 million.[6]

    Friendships

    She was a friend of former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, the wife of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.[5] In an interview with Walter Hayes, UK public relations executive for Ford, he related how Henry accused the two women of being lovers, a charge which Cristina indignantly denied.[7] The two women, as documented in a Filipino newsreel of Imelda Marcos' official visit to Iran to represent President Marcos at the 2500th Persian monarchy celebrations in October 1971, shared her assigned royal encampment tent (for which Mrs Marcos received personal permission from Queen Farah Pahlavi to do so) so that Mrs Ford could stay with her during the event rather than at a hotel in the city of Shiraz.[8]

    Death

    Cristina Ford died in Rome on Christmas Day 2008.[9]

    See also

    References

    1. 1 2 Henry Ford, Italian Blonde, Head for Swiss Honeymoon, The Tuscaloosa News, February 21, 1965
    2. ↑ Business: Mister Ford: They Never Call Him Henry, July 20, 1970, time.com
    3. ↑ The Sunshine days of Cristina Ford, LIFE, June 4, 1971
    4. ↑ Bill McGraw. "How a 1975 traffic stop thrust Kathy DuRoss into gossipy stardom with Henry Ford II". Detroit Free Press.
    5. 1 2 Whittaker, Jeanne. After 11 Years of Marriage, Is There Still a Ford in Cristina's Future?, Vol. 5, No. 3, January 26, 1976
    6. ↑ Schmalz, Jeffrey. Ford Heirs Fight, and Entertain, in Seeking Estate, Special to the New York Times, October 1, 1988
    7. ↑ Robert Lacey, Ford, The men and the machine,page 625, Ballantine Books, 1986
    8. ↑ Video on YouTube
    9. ↑ "Cristina Ford-Vettore Obituary (2009) New York Times".
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