How To Address Aristocrats? S.D. Art Lovers Get a Lesson

It has been said countless times that nothing so titillates the citizens of this democracy as the presence of titled foreigners.

There may be a whisper of truth to this contention; after all, the visit to Washington and Palm Beach last week by the Prince and Princess of Wales did not pass without notice.

But what is unquestionably true is that Americans’ tongues absolutely fail them when it comes to addressing the princes, dukes, earls, marquesses, viscounts and such whom fate and fortune occasionally lure to our noble but non-aristocratic shores.

For example, if upon meeting a duke you should say, “Pleased to meet you, Duke,” those of your friends who know to say, “Good evening, Your Grace,” would be quite justified in snickering all evening at your obvious lack of social refinement. And since protocol requires different forms of address for each rank of nobility, many Americans feel a justifiable anxiety upon being introduced to an aristocrat. This is no more true than in California, where even the term “mister” seems in imminent danger of extinction.

How fortunate it was, therefore, that the guests of honor at a pair of splendid parties given last week by John and Sally Thornton were the Baron and Baroness Thyssen-Bornemisza. Barons may come from ancient families, and they may be rich, powerful and famous (this particular baron enjoys all these distinctions), but their rank does not require a special form of address. Thus you may say, “Try these canapes, Baron, they’re delish,” and feel quite beyond reproach; it is also possible to say “sir,” and to feel correct and self-satisfied while doing so.

Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and Baroness Tita made the scene last Thursday and Friday to help launch the San Diego Museum of Art’s exhibition, “American Masters: The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection.” The collection of major American paintings is drawn from the Baron’s enormous collection, which among private art holdings ranks second only to that of Queen Elizabeth II. This traveling exhibition is making its sole West Coast stop here, where it has been underwritten by John and Sally Thornton.

Sally said that she and John couldn’t think of a nicer way to celebrate their 30th anniversary than to bring the collection--and their pals, the baron and baroness--to San Diego. The Nov. 14 preview party entertained an especially select group of about 60 of the museum’s most generous benefactors; the celebration the next night included about 230 guests, all members of the museum’s President’s Circle. The exhibit opened formally on Saturday, with a members’ preview, again given by the Thorntons.

The Thursday soiree doubtless was the most lavish. It began at the museum, where the Rotunda had been decorated to look like an early American landscape painting, and where harpist Gail Dietericks picked out dignified melodies from a station perched two-thirds of the way up the grand staircase. Later, guests retreated to the Westgate hotel’s Versailles Room for dinner and dancing.

San Diego society took to the visiting aristocrats like Russian nobles once took to caviar. The baron led a tour of the exhibition, and almost everyone followed in his wake. (Those who didn’t headed for the spread of major-league cocktail munchies, which included Beluga caviar, smoked salmon, and paper-thin strips of raw beef posed on bread rounds spread with garlic butter.)

The baroness, who had spent the day in Los Angeles, arrived quite late because of traffic, but the delay may have made her entrance that much grander. She strode in wearing a black evening confection that Judi Strada avowed to be a “knock-dead dress,” and a sensation-causing string of emeralds that may have partly explained why the baron had so many private bodyguards on hand. (One source, who coyly said, “Billionaire barons bear burdens too,” put the number of bodyguards at four.) Baroness Tita, a Spaniard and the widow of Lex Barker, one of several actors to portray Tarzan on the silver screen, married the baron just three months ago.

Her arrival allowed everyone to decamp to the Versailles Room, which had been decorated with Sally Thornton’s trademark double topiaries of roses, pink gerbera daisies and blushing tiger lilies. The dinner--it included a warm seafood salad and lamb in a port and ginger sauce--moved along at a stately pace, with intermissions between courses that allowed guests to get in all the dancing they wished. When the baroness first took to the floor, Murray Korda’s orchestra played the Spanish bullfight fanfare in her honor.

The Thorntons met the Thyssen-Bornemiszas after the baron’s son, Georg-Heinrich (a friend and business acquaintance of John’s), invited them to dine at Monte Carlo’s famed Chevre d’Or. Upon learning that they had a lively interest in art, he asked them to the Villa Favorita, where they became friends of the baron. Since that first acquaintance, they have attended several openings of the baron’s exhibitions, including one at the Royal Academy in London attended by Princess Margaret.

The guest list included San Diego Museum of Art Director Steven Brezzo and his wife, Dagmar, and museum board president Gordon Luce and his wife, Karon. Also present were Dallas and Mary Clark, Linda Grabe with Steve Thornton, Ingrid and Joe Hibben, Gabriel Robles de Cosio, Jacquelyn Littlefield, James and Judy Ridgway, Don and Lois Roon, James and Colleen Kerr, Bill Black and Barbara Woodbury, DeWitt and Carolyn Shuck, Larry and Lee Cox, and Walter Fitch.

Others were Paul and Virginia Berlin, Herbert and Elene Solomon, Barbara Walbridge, Rea and Lela Axline, Michael and Katie Dessent, Bob Faust, Irwin and Joan Jacobs, George and Kathy Pardee, Carl and Mercedes Hokanson, Frank and Jane Rice, and Richard and Patricia Abbott.

Although pundits had suggested that the local social scene might slow considerably in the aftermath of the Nov. 2 Symphony Inaugural Concert and Gala, there was quite a jam-up on the calendar Friday, when three major parties vied for guests. In addition to the second of the Thorntons’ round of parties at the San Diego Museum of Art, the night also witnessed Steve Garvey’s Crime Stoppers fund-raiser at the Hotel del Coronado, and the University of San Diego’s Dean’s Ball in the grand ballroom of the Hotel Inter-Continental.

More than 500 guests turned out for the Dean’s Ball, the second in a series that the university hopes will stretch indefinitely into the future. It was a very dressy but low-key party, one that kept speechmaking to a minimum so as to allow its patrons a maximum of fun.

Maggie Mazur organized the bash, as she did last year, and although she expected the proceeds to exceed $150,000, she saw them in terms other than monetary. “Seventeen scholarships to the nursing school resulted from last year’s ball,” she said. “This year, the funds will be split among all of the university’s five schools and will be used primarily for scholarships. This party has turned out to be very useful to the university’s students, and I’m just delighted by that.”

The students themselves doubtless are delighted, and quite a few of them were on hand as a quiet reminder to the guests of the efforts their contributions support. White-gowned members of the Alcala Women’s Club welcomed the guests, and uniformed members of the school’s Navy ROTC unit served as hosts.

The party commenced in the hotel’s Tea Lounge, where partygoers inspected a pair of massive cocktail buffets and took turns meeting the ball’s five guests of honor, each a dean of one of USD’s five schools. In this group were C. Joseph Pusateri, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; James Burns of the School of Business Administration; Edward DeRoche of the School of Education; Sheldon Krantz of the School of Law, and Irene Palmer of the Philip Y. Hahn School of Nursing. The five were formally introduced to the audience by Dan Derbes, chairman of the USD Board of Trustees academic committee.

When the dinner gong sounded (actually, the lights in the Tea Lounge were repeatedly dimmed and brightened), guests entered the ballroom to find the Bob Crosby Orchestra stationed on the dance floor, and the first course, a gallantine of pheasant, already on the table. The evening progressed more or less without interruption after that, alternating between dinner and dancing as course after course appeared from the kitchen. Guests dined on, among other things, scallops, medallions of veal in a morel mushroom sauce, and individual baked Alaska desserts.

Bishop Leo T. Maher offered an invocation that asked blessings in the form used by the five major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hindu, Judaism and Islam. One guest, who was quite charmed by this ecumenical gesture, remarked, “It seems so appropriate when we have the summit meeting starting tomorrow in Geneva.”

USD President Author Hughes and his wife, Marge, shared the duties of honorary chairmanship of the party with developer Ernest Hahn and his wife, Jean. Hughes confessed himself pleased by the turnout: “We want to be an integral part of the community, and the idea that we can gather such a varied group to support us is very gratifying,” he said. When Hahn stepped to the podium, he amused everyone by announcing that the notes for his speech had been handed him while he was showering before driving to the party. He betrayed his developer’s eye when he remarked that, “The USD campus is probably one of the nicest pieces of property in San Diego,” but he earned wide agreement when he added that deserving students should always find a home at the university.

Among the guests were Charles and Gloria Melville, USD constituent affairs director Sister Virginia McMonagle, Jim and Ruth Mulvaney, Dick and Alice Cramer, Jack and Val Frager, Charles and Maureen King, David and Shirley Rubel, Fred and Betty Bahr, Tom and Sara Finn, Doug and Betsy Manchester, Dean and Marie Dunphy, Ann Evans, Dan and Mary Mulvihill, Stu and Leslie Taylor, George and Jeanne Rigsby, and Frank and Judy Powell.