Ivana Trump Threw Champagne Dinner in Rehab, According to Guinness Heiress
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Ivana Trump's friend, Guinness heiress Ivana Lowell, is speaking out about their adventures in rehab together.
Published by Air Mail on Saturday, her essay The Other Ivana tells the story of how Lowell and Trump - who died on July 15, aged 73 – bonded over having the same first name while in treatment.
Lowell, who had always been the only Ivana in the room growing up, was taken by surprise when she introduced herself to Trump and the businesswoman said, "Ivana? You too are called Ivana?"
A few weeks later, on Trump's last day at the facility, Lowell added that the fashion icon decided to throw a dinner party to celebrate.
"Darlink, tonight is going to be my treat. I am taking us all out to dinner," Trump told her new friend according to Air Mail. "There is a fabulous restaurant right on the water, and the food is divine. I think we all deserve a treat, don't you?"
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At the dinner party, Trump's closest friends from rehab were treated to a variety of small plates and tasty appetizers, added Lowell. A waiter then appeared with a bottle of champagne and Trump signaled him to fill the glasses of everyone present, she continued.
But before anyone could be tempted, Lowell said to the group, "Look, I know how much we have all paid to be in treatment. If you touch that glass of champagne, it will be the most expensive drink you have ever had," according to Air Miles.
The result was that no one touched their glass, the Guinness heiress said.
As for why Trump was in rehab in the first place, the businesswoman told Lowell, "Exhaustion, darlink, pure exhaustion," according to Air Miles.
During her stay in the facility, Lowell added that Trump, who was accompanied by a mysterious younger friend called Roberto, did not attend group or 12-step meetings and asked everyone to call her Maria, not Ivana.
"How many times do I have to tell you my name is not Ivana — it is Maria. I am Maria!" she told the staff according to Lowell.
Rebecca Smeyne/Getty Ivana Trump
As her time went by, Ivana, who would frequently take off for a lunch with friends in Malibu or a shopping spree in Santa Barbara, began to open up. According to Lowell, she spoke at "great length about the abusive marriage she had been in, how much she had suffered at the hands of this man, and how much she hated him."
On her last day, Trump also gifted Lowell a special gift. "Darlink, we are leaving today, but I want to give you something," Trump told her, before handing her a bottle of perfume labeled IVANA.
The gift came with a handwritten note: "With love from one Ivana to another."
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Though her high-profile marriage to the former president catapulted her into the limelight in the late '70s, Trump was much more than just Mrs. Trump – she was a savvy businesswoman, an athlete, a writer, a multifaceted clothing and jewelry designer, and above all, a proud mother of three adored by her children.
Born Ivana Marie Zelníčková in Zlin, a factory town in then-Communist Czechoslovakia, she was the only child of Marie, a telephone operator, and Milos, an engineer who died in 1990.
"My mother is my inspiration," Ivanka, also a mom of three, told PEOPLE in 2016. "She was the ultimate role model. It was always clear to us that we were her priority, but that doesn't mean we got her 24 hours a day."
