Wealth Blog | Christina O – a fitting ambassador for Greece

Perhaps the most famous luxury yacht after Brittanie, the Christina O, went on the market a couple of weeks ago, but so far, no takers. If the 325 foot vessel, built by Canadian Vickers in 1943 and designed by Caesar Pinnau could talk, it would be a best seller. Present at the D-Day landings, the yacht was later converted into one of the most opulent of its time by Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, who spent the equivalent of £30 million (HK$355 million) fitting it out with some of the most over-the-top interiors imaginable.

On the market with specialist agent Edmiston, she has18 staterooms, onyx pillars, bar handles made from whale teeth, an original Renoir, a spa, and a helipad. No one ever accused Onassis of having too much taste.

After his lavish conversion, he hosted the world’s A list celebrities of the late 1950s on board, throwing legendary parties. Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, John Paul Getty and Eva Peron all stayed on the yacht.

John F Kennedy famously first met Winston Churchill on the Christina O, then Onassis married his widow Jackie. And in 1956, the fairytale wedding reception of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco was held on board.

It was also the stage for many of the dramas of Onassis’s tempestuous romance with Maria Callas, as the Christina O cruised around Europe. He left the boat to his unhappy daughter Christina, who in turn passed it to the Greek government as a Presidential yacht. The last official owner was the late businessman Pavlos Papanikolaou.

Since then the Christina O has been searching for a role. It has recently been moored in London’s Canary Wharf, in the South Quay, where visitors could dine in the restaurant or use it for business meetings at £500 (HK$5,913) a time, the Daily Telegraph reported.