Athina, ever the injured girl

In Monte-Carlo last week, the photos of Athina, with her shoulder cast, looking resentfully at the camera, reminded me of the injured, naive little Swiss Miss Roussel, who said if only she could burn the money, her problems would go vamoose. She had the same look in her eyes, that look that says: "I hate you. Why do you pursue my image? Why do you blot my life?" As I don't live in her shoes, I can't judge and I can't understand, but I have to wonder how much the paparazzi do indeed 'blot' her life. The only time we see photos of her are when she has appeared at another equestrian event. We never see photos of her around her home, or even at the AD stables in Valkenswaard. When she was living more in Brazil -- I suppose because the Brazilian paps have more license? -- sometimes we had images of her at the hospital or the airport or leaving the Hotel Unique, where she and Doda lived before their Ibirapuera Park penthouse was habitable. In Sao Paulo and Rio, and even in Argentina and Uruguay, where the couple liked to go to relax, there were sometimes photos. But since their return to the European equine circuit, their private life has been what it should be, that is to say, completely invisible. I can only conclude that Athina simply hates the media, and can hardly tolerate it to any degree or on any terms. Her mother hated it too, but she tangoed with it because she liked the social scene. As for her father, Thierry Roussel, he seems like the type of person who would do a reality show at the drop of a hat, if you paid him enough money! But Athina won't do it. When she needs to make a statement, she has someone speak for her. Usually, if it relates to her eponymous jumping tournament in Rio de Janeiro, her spokesperson is her husband. If it's a denial of some kind, such as when she denied that she sold or was planning to sell Skorpios, it's done through the Greek Consulate of Sao Paulo.

Her famous friends (well, famous in the horsey world) all use social networking sites like Facebook that are a big no-go for Athina. Athina stays clear of such sites. You won't find Athina on Twitter or Bebo, at least not under her real name. Doda has more than 1,000 "friends" on Facebook. The Athina Onassis International Horse Show (AOIHS) has an official page on Facebook, however. There you can get evet news and updates, even pictures, courtesy of the press agent of the Global Champions Tour. But no Athina the person. Of course, it's easy enough to understand why Athina stays clear the social networking hoopla. As quickly as word spreads nowadays, if she got on Facebook and added her high-profile horsey friends, it wouldn't be any time before the wrong kind of people figured it out. In fact, her famous life insurance policy at Lloyds of London might even forbid that kind of exposure, as it might be argued that it would make her a target.

I wonder if Athina sometimes feels she's living in an Ivory Tower. Her dearest friends go up to visit her in the Ivory Tower, where she lives safely and cozily with her husband and kids. The Ivory Tower can move and even travel across Europe, and she can appear at the windows -- hence, the occasional photos of her. But there is a protective substance around her. She can't step outside it. The bodyguards keep it intact. She can socialize with her friends and well-heeled acquaintances. Only a certain calibre of person can afford to penetrate her orbit. She's not allowed to go into a place like McDonald's. If she wants a burger and fries, someone goes to get it for her. I've never seen her eat a burger, as a matter of fact. Pizza, yes, oh yes... and ice cream! And green olives. Her Ivory Tower must have a stock of green olives.