How The Richest Woman in U.S. Got Away With Murdering Her Gay Designer
For more than 50 years, the real truth behind what happened to Eduardo Tirella has been hidden. Until now.
An excerpt from
On the last full day of his life October 6th, 1966 Eduardo Tirella flew into Newport, RI, the storied summer colony of The New York 400. Doris Duke, the wealthiest woman in America, picked him up at the airport and they drove to Rough Point, her English-manor estate on Bellevue Avenue, known to Newporters as “Millionaire’s Row.” Tirella, whose close friends called him “Eddie,” was about to declare that he was leaving Doris after seven years as her constant companion, artistic curator, and designer at her estates in New Jersey, Bel Air, Honolulu, and Newport. It was now time to let his patron know, face to face, that he was severing his professional ties with her, for good.