The Queen of Paris

“Jacqueline is the Last Queen of Paris,” said Valentino. Comtesse Jacqueline de Ribes grew up in an atmosphere of French aristocratic wealth and elegance. She was born 1931 in Paris as Jacqueline Bonnin de La Bonninière de Beaumont. Her parents were Jean de Beaumont, Comte Bonnin de la Bonninière de Beaumont, and his wife Paule de Rivaud de La Raffinière. In 1948, she married Edouard, Vicomte de Ribes, a rich and successful banker, who subsequently became Comte de Ribes.

“They say I am the last survivor of the Beistegui ball — it sounds like surviving the Titanic,” said the countess, referring to one of the grandest social events of the 20th century: the masked oriental ball thrown in 1951 in Venice by Mexican/French heir Carlos de Beistegui, with the clotted cream of international society from the Duchess of Windsor to the Aga Khan.

The Comtesse is considered one of the most elegant women in France, and in 1983 was voted the "Most Stylish Woman in the World" by the magazine Town and Country. In 1999 Jean-Paul Gaultier, the French designer, dedicated his collection to Jacqueline as the quintessence of Parisian elegance.