(Long Island, NY) I recently had the pleasure of interviewing beautiful Princess Yasmin Aga Khan daughter of glamorous movie star Rita Hayworth at The Concours d’Elegance. The car show and auction took place on the fields of the Hayground school, situated on Mitchell Lane in Bridgehampton.
The Princess and I had a chance to chat in front of her 1995 9ll Carrera before the awards ceremony. She spoke about her passion for cars and about the special bond she had with her famous movie star mom growing up.
Cognac: Darling, this is a wonderful day and we are doing the interview right in front of your fabulous Porsche.
Cognac Wellerlane with Princess Yasmin Aga Khan chatting about the Hamptons Concours D’Elegance, her passion for cars, The Alzheimer Associaton and her famous movie star mom Rita Hayworth. Photo by Michael Wellbrock
Princess: This is a 1995 911 Carrera Porsche and Its my baby, I adore it. It has 30 million miles on it and I am hanging on to it tight. It’s all shiny and polished.
Cognac: Does it purr?
Princess: Yes, it purrs, actually it growls, a really deep throat growl.
Cognac: Wow! it growls, tell us about your passion for cars.
Princess: I always had a passion for cars. I think I got that from my father Prince Aga Khan and my mother Rita Hayworth because they both loved cars. As a little girl my father would drive me around in his cars and my mom loved to drive so I think that is why I developed a passion for cars.
Cognac: What was your father’s favorite car?
Princess: I don’t know because he died when I was a little girl but I do know that he bought my mother the Cadillac Gia which was designed by the Italian house of Gia and they only designed two for The Paris Show 1953. He bought one of the cars for my mother and I know she adored that car. He gave it to her as a gift.
Cognac: Was that your mother’s favorite car?
Princess: I think that was my mother’s favorite car definitely.
Cognac: Your mother was photographed in so many beautiful cars.
Princess: She was. She adored cars and adored that special Cadillac. They called it the Rita Hayworth Cadillac Gia
Cognac: The Rita Hayworth Cadillac Gia, How glamorous!
Princess: Yes it is glamorous at the moment it is in the Peterson Museum in California and it will be here at the Concours d’Elegance next year.
Cognac: How long have you been involved in the Concours d’Elegance?
Princess: I just became involved this year but I have been involved in Alzheimer’s since 1981.
Cognac: I know, I am very good friends of Editor and Chief Joyce Brooks from Black Tie International Magazine. I am also a writer for the magazine and Joyce featured your mother on the cover of the magazine as well as doing an interview with you.
Princess: Beautiful, beautiful magazine, beautiful article, beautiful cover, such a glamorous magazine.
Cognac: Joyce is such a fan of you and your beautiful mother, and so am I.
Princess: My mom was a wonderful dear, sweet, sweet loving mother, she was very shy, she loved to giggle, she loved to golf, play tennis swim but she also adored expressing herself through camera. She was always punctual on the set and very professional. She took her career very seriously and she loved dancing with Fred Astaire. She loved music dancing and singing. At home she would play the canastas. She was of course half Spanish and half Irish.
Cognac: She also danced with movie star Gene Kelly in the movie “Cover Girl” isn’t that true?
Princess: Absolutely yes that is true. When she first got Alzheimer’s Disease I did not know what it was and the doctor didn’t know. It took a long time for her to be diagnosed. She was diagnosed with the disease in 1981 when the Alzheimer’s Association came to me. My mother had early onset Alzheimer’s. She was only 51 when she was diagnosed with the illness. I was able to be by her side as her caregiver. What happens is your brain stops transmitting messages. There is a slow breakdown of your body functions. Your memory tells your brain to put your spoon to your mouth, its a very slow and difficult process and then there is confusion, disorientation even anger because you are frightened,
Cognac: I am sure there were times she didn’t even know who you were.
Princess: Absolutely. I remember I was at a hotel in New York City and arranging for her to be moved to an apartment next to mine and we were both looking in the mirror and she said “Who are you?”
Cognac: That must have broke your heart.
Princess: That was the most difficult time truly!
The Princess revealed in 1981 The Alzheimer Association came to her for support to bring awareness to people about this dreaded illness. The Alzheimer’s Association has raised millions of dollars to advance research worldwide and to develop better treatment, diagnosis and finally cure Alzheimer. An estimated 26 million people are stricken with the disease. The Alzheimer’s Association provides support and guidance to unfortunate families and loving caregivers to patients through chapters across the nation. Hopefully with continuing efforts and continuing spirit of caring and determination one day we will live in a world without Alzheimer. Princess Yasmin Aga Khan will always be known as philanthropist for raising public awareness in Alzheimer’s disease.
She is the only surviving child of Rita Hayworth, the American glamorous movie star, and her third husband, Prince Ali Khan, a vice president of the United Nations General Assembly representing Pakistan, for which he served as U.N. ambassador.
Stunning statuesque glamorous movie star Rita Hayworth not only possessed outer beauty she also possessed strength of character as well. Rita was born Margarita Carmen Cansino in Brooklyn 1918. Her mother was a beautiful Irish Ziegfeld showgirl and her father was a handsome Spanish dancer. Rita later joined her father’s famous dance act and Hollywood discovered her. She was put under contract by Fox Studios. She was cast in such movie classics as “Dante’s Inferno,” and “Under the Pampas Moon,” but she is best known for her seductive role as “Gilda” which made her world famous as the sexy redhead who captured fans worldwide.
Prince Aly Khan proposed marriage to Rita in 1949 and produced Princess Yasmin. The Princess shared “My mother had a totally different persona, she was very athletic.loved to swim, play golf and tennis.” Rita had many challenges in her life unfortunately she did not survive her battle with Alzheimer’s. Thanks to the efforts of Princess Yasmin and the Alzheimer’s Association Rita Hayworth’s legacy lives on.
For more information please visit www.alz.org.
