How To Marry A Millionaire?
LatestAccording to this woman, elocution lessons, a new wardrobe and a lot of study. The better question is, what’s in it for the dude?
There’s a three-car-pile-up fascinating “first-person” piece in today’s Daily Mail by a woman who explains how she went from her humble roots to being the wife of a millionaire. The “author,” Kim, is oddly frank about the whole project. She’s unsatisfied with her life as a shop clerk with a young daughter.
The simple fact is, I’d spent months changing my appearance, and even my accent, all so I would meet a rich man. And if that sounds shallow, then let me explain a little about my past. I worked in my local pharmacy, but I always felt I deserved a better life. Just like people who believe they have been born the wrong gender or in the wrong era, I felt like I’d been born into the wrong social class.
She spends a mint on lessons to lose her Northern accent; invests in designer duds and good fakes; reads etiquette books; pores over glossies “to find out about the best restaurants and the most luxurious resorts” and generally educates herself on the habits of the rich and famous. “It didn’t matter when I needed to default on my electricity bill so I could afford hair extensions. I was speculating to accumulate – and I knew it would be worth it.” When she finds her future mate on a website matching Americans and Brits, “David peppered his emails to me with tales of flying business class and expensive champagnes. I knew he had to have serious money. This was the man I had been waiting for.” Oh, and she strings him along by implying that she’s rich, too. Then they get together and get married.
So, um, what does he make of all this? Writes Kim, “He still doesn’t know exactly how close to the breadline I’ve been – though I did confess that I’d changed certain things about myself to attract him, and he thinks that’s funny. Americans are generally more comfortable with the idea of bettering yourself than British people are.” I guess: he appears in a series of pictures with her for the article, and presumably, read it. And she seems to have what she wanted. As she writes,
My life now consists of shopping, then going to the gym or for lunch. David’s helping me set up a little fake-tanning business to keep me occupied, because there is only so much shopping you can do! Apart from my gorgeous husband and our lovely homes, I’ve got a beautiful white Mercedes to drive and a closet full of amazing clothes, not to mention a diamond bracelet and Rolex watch.
As to her daughter? Yeah, we don’t hear any more about her.
If he had any illusions about their relationship prior to this, presumably her husband doesn’t now. And…does he mind? How do these guys feel about being frankly married for their money? It’s a question that I’ve often wondered about while watching the Millionaire Matchmaker, or reading about those sugar-daddy sites. In the latter cases, I guess they’d say they want a straightforward, no-strings relationship. With Patti Stanger, sometimes the guys ask her specifically to weed out gold-diggers (although she never seems to put much effort into it.) But what about a dude like this? Maybe some of these guys are so obsessed with women being after their money — and so convinced it’s their main attraction — that they’d as soon have it baldly out in the open than not. Which is, I guess, one approach.