Photo: Del Puppo/Fotogramma/Ropi/Zuma
When Patrizia Reggiani met Maurizio Gucci at a party in 1970, she saw him as her ticket to a better life.
“She knew what she wanted and she went out to get it,” PEOPLE editor-in-chief Dan Wakeford says in Friday’s episode ofDateline NBC. “She wanted to get to that next echelon of society.”
And she did — within two years, Patrizia and Maurizio were married, entwining her with the prominent house of Gucci and the heir to the Gucci fashion brand.
The celebrity power couple relocated from Italy to New York City, where Patrizia quickly joined the ranks of prominent socialite women.
“[Maurizio’s father, Rodolfo,] was very concerned about Patrizia, the way she would spend money and the way — her view, you know, she wanted to live her life,” says Domenico De Sole, former CEO and chairman of Gucci, adding that Rodolfo viewed her as a gold-digger.
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In addition to the external pressures tugging at their marriage from the beginning, the couple’s relationship grew strained from the inside — particularly after Maurizio became the majority stakeholder of the family company, pulling his focus away from Patrizia.
In 1985, three years after the couple moved back to Italy, Maurizio left for a “business trip” and never returned, sending a confidant to notify Patrizia that their marriage was over.
Dateline NBC
According to Sheree Loud, who dated Maurizio for five years while he was still legally married to Patrizia, Maurizio wasn’t solely to blame for the split.
Patrizia finalized her divorce from Maurizio in 1994, losing one of her most precious assets: The legal right to use the Gucci surname.
In an exclusive interview withDateline, her friend, Pina Auriemma, says Patrizia was “more sad and sorry about losing her name” than losing her husband.
On March 27, 1995, Maurizio — the family dynasty’s final leader — was shot dead. And Patrizia continued calling herself a Gucci.
DatelineNBC’s “Murder in the House of Gucci” airs Friday at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT.HouseofGucci, starringLady Gagaand Adam Driver, is currently in theaters.
source: people.com
