Paul had met a 29 year old, unhappily married woman and mother of three from a British society background named PENELOPE KITSON. This woman was separated from her husband but as you know if you've been reading MISTRESS MANIFESTO, being a Mistress does not always mean adultery. As Getty's mistress, Penelope was hired to be his Interior Decorator, beginning with the cabins in his oil tankers!
Over time Penelope Kitson would come to believe the man was amoral, had no interest in marrying him, and was around to see a lot of women come and go. It was the ones who insisted on sticking around Sutton Place, Getty's lavish home, fighting over him and being part of an unofficial harem, who didn't get it, as she saw it. While various women went in and out of favor (and Getty's will with many codicils is a testimony to this), Penelope Kitson knew her place and kept it by being a little bit separate by not seeing these women as direct competitors. If there was anything especially nice that she did for the Getty family, it was to push Paul to try and be a father to his sons.
Getty himself was quite effected when he was outed in 1957 by Fortune Magazine as a billionaire times two and he was no longer a private individual following his whims. About the same time reporters wrote and published stories about his cheapness.
Sutton Place was the scene of the only extravagant party Getty ever hosted, and Mrs. Kitson did the planning. 2000 guests were invited. In the chapter called "Good Old Fashioned Vulgar Fun," in the book "The House of Getty," by Russel Miller page 20 of the e-book read on Overdrive, ..."a selection of his mistresses, many of whom had never set eyes on each other before" were invited. According to Miller, Getty began to invite guests over without concern about their unpleasant behavior, enjoying being fought over. On page 31 of the same, "Within its mellow red-brick walls they schemed and fought, listened at keyholes, poisoned the old man's mind against each other, jockeying for his favors." ... "It was not at all unusual for three or four women to be staying in the house at one time, all of them competing for his affection and attention." As the staff played an essential role in all the comings and goings, some guests claimed to have been horrified by the scene.
On page 33 of the same, ..."To Getty's credit, he did not necessarily accord preferential treatment to the mistress - of the mistresses of the moment." Getty also shared his bed with women friends or women who he was once lovers with. And so Mrs. Kitson and he ended their affair and she still spent a great deal of time with him.
Getty's proposals of marriage were not taken seriously. Who were the leading Mistresses of J. Paul Getty as he became old?
Baroness Marianne von Alvensleben said he suggested they marry but he'd keep his Mistresses and she could have affairs.
Rosabella Burch, a widow of 29 when they were introduced by Claus Von Bulow in 1962, moved into Sutton Place, and that upset Mary Tessier and Lady Ursula d' Abo, contenders. Penelope Kitson witnessed the three fight over Paul. Rosabella thought she was better than the others. D'Abo, when the press caught up with their relationship in the mid 1960's, claimed they were just friends and she acted as a hostess and companion. Rosabella also claimed to the press that she and Paul were friends but perhaps she went a little further than the others to claim his love.
At the end of 1962, when Paul was seventy-two years old, Rosabella Burch went to Switzerland to give birth to a son she named Paul Bernard. She had a daughter a few years later. Both would be remembered in his will, but Paul Bernard's amount was substantially more. Rumors were that J. Paul Getty had fathered Paul Bernard. When Rosabella learned that Paul had purchased a house for an immigrant woman, she demanded a house too. He gave her a house budget and expected her to stick to it. The house was purchased for a mere 25,000 pounds. When Paul died, age 83, she said he had promised her support for life and went after the money, expecting a thousand a month plus company shares, but settled at 150,000 pounds.
J. Paul Getty worked long hours until the very end of his life. He died in June 1976 and a dozen "Getty Girls" were beneficiaries but only one wife was; Teddy Lynch.
I want to say that Russel Miller's book is quite special and covers so much more than the women I have focused on here at MISTRESS MANIFESTO. Worth a read!
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