Sometimes the cliches about the rich and famous really are true.
The Guardian reported a delightfully juicy story this morning about Patrizia Reggiani, ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci, heir to the Gucci fortune.
Reggiani, who is famous for once uttering, ""I would rather weep in a Rolls-Royce than be happy on a bicycle," has refused parole because it would require her to get a job -- and that's something she just will not do.
Reggiani is currently imprisoned in Milan for ordering Maurizio Gucci's murder. The pair had been married for 12 happy years but split in 1985, after which Gucci paid Reggiani a huge settlement, moved in with a new (tall, blonde) mistress and unfortunately ended up driving his family company downhill -- so much so that in 1993 he sold sold his holding for $170 million to a Bahrain-based investment company.
So in 1995, feeling spurned and upset over her pitifully small £400,000-a-year allowance, Reggiani conspired with her personal psychic, a hotel porter, a hit man and a getaway driver to have her husband shot dead on the steps of his office.
Reggiani, dubbed "The Black Widow" by the Italian press, was found guilty and sentenced to 29 years in jail (later reduced to 26). Now she is eligible for parole after serving half her sentence but has refused. According to the Daily Mail, she told the prison board:
"No thanks, as it would mean getting a job and I have never worked a day in my life."
The 63-year-old also added, "I would prefer to stay in my cell and water my plants" and take care of her pet ferret.
It's just one more absurd turn in a decades-long saga that seems too crazy to be true. Only in Italy, people. Only in Italy.