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In 1976, a chance meeting sparked a romance between two people destined to become the glamour couple of the 1980s. When Donald Trump approached Ivana Marie Zelníčeková in a restaurant in New York, although she found him attractive she little suspected that a hundred red roses would appear at her hotel room the next day, and she certainly did not foresee that five months later they would marry and that she would become his trusted confidante and powerful business partner for over a decade. But who was this striking blonde model, newly arrived in New York? This is the story of Ivana Trump, the woman who would partner Donald
Trump to make the Trump Organisation synonymous with luxury and glamour. The woman known to history as Ivana Trump was born on 20th February 1949 in Gottwaldov (now known as Zlín), Czechoslovakia. Her full name at birth was Ivana Marie Zelníčeková. She was born early at seven months and weighed only three pounds; her parents had not yet settled on a first name, so they chose the same one that another lady in the same
maternity ward had chosen for her child; Ivana. She was to be the only child in the family. Ivana's father was Milos Zelníček, an electrical engineer; Ivana remembered reading blueprints for the projects he was working on as a child. He came from a family that was financially well off - his mother was the president of a shoe factory while his father stayed at home to raise the children and look after the home. Ivana was very close to her father Milos and he worked incredibly hard to sustain his family during difficult times in Czechoslovakia. Ivana's mother was Marie Francová,
a telephone operator at a factory. Her parents were farmers and also owned a vineyard in Moravia. Marie devoted herself to her daughter, ensuring Ivana was well fed and cared for, taken to sports practice and supported with homework, balancing these responsibilities with those of her paid work. Living in Czechoslovakia, within the Communist Eastern Bloc, held challenges for Ivana and her family. A coup d'etat had taken place in the country in 1948, just the year before Ivana's birth, and the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia had seized power, just as several other Eastern European states had also become Communist.
The party had made gains in the 1946 elections and, facing increasing demands to hand over power and fearing Soviet interference, the prime minister Benes resigned which resulted in the country becoming a one-party state run by the Communists. Once power had been secured, the characteristics of contemporary Soviet satellite states were put in place. The country suffered a lack of consumer goods, there was no access to western culture, real wages declined, religion was oppressed and the media was controlled. Ivana's father, Milos, refused
to join the Communist Party, which meant that he lost out on privileges, such as better housing and jobs, but he escaped persecution because his talents as an electrical engineer were valued. Ivana grew up in featureless government housing consisting of identical concrete blocks, sharing a room with her parents until the age of 10. She noticed that those of her classmates who were the daughters of party members had access to shop-bought clothing and more food than she did, a result of her father's refusal to join the Communist Party. She had to be careful to maintain
her performance in school, as falling grades could result in being redeployed to work in a factory. Her father and mother compensated for the hardships Communism brought in ways they could, her father by bringing home fish he had caught to supplement their diet, and her mother by making and fixing clothing and foraging for food. Whilst Ivana was raised as a Catholic the family had to be secretive about worship, saying their prayers secretly at home, as the Communists had banned religion and being seen near a church could raise suspicions and potential persecution.
Ivana had some escape from the privations foisted upon her childhood by Communism. Her summers were spent at her maternal grandparents' farm, which she travelled to independently by train from the age of six, being met by her grandmother at her destination. Free from the routine of school and sports practices and from the fear of the police watching her, Ivana would spend her time at summer celebrations, playing with the farmyard animals and enjoying the fresh vegetables and meat from the farm, often in short supply in the towns and cities.
Back in Zlín, Ivana devoted increasing amounts of her time to the development of her skills in sport. Milos had taught her to become a competent skier, starting from the age of five, and she also participated in swimming training and competitions, winning her first swimming race at the age of six. Her father was aware that by developing Ivana's skills there was the potential of raising the family's status within Communist Czechoslovakia and with that, the chance that Ivana could be sent abroad to compete in events. However, disadvantages stood
in Ivana's way, as the sons and daughters of party members had access to better coaches and facilities than she did. Nevertheless, she worked hard, her life becoming a routine of school, swim, ski, sleep. At the age of 13, Ivana decided to specialise in skiing so that she could focus on the development of the muscles needed to excel in that sport, which she found more exciting than being in the pool. Subsequently, she was given a place on the Czech junior ski team. With Ivana's increasing devotion to skiing and the junior team, her academic performance suffered
and her school place was put in jeopardy. As a result, that summer her father put her to work in her grandmother's shoe factory to demonstrate the reality and monotony of working life under Communism. Her experience on the assembly line there was enough to persuade her to work doubly hard at maintaining her grades. At the age of 14 she accompanied the junior team to a ski camp in Italy where she participated in slalom and racing events. She had to push herself in these events both to ensure she remained uninjured and able to continue competing and also performing to a high
standard to keep her place on the team. Later, she was also able to visit Vienna whilst participating in a competition in Austria, marvelling at the amount of consumer goods available including cakes, champagne, cars and furs. It was these experiences that persuaded her that she wanted to escape life under Communism. Whilst the visits abroad Ivana made as part of the junior ski team were somewhat of an escape from life in the Eastern Bloc, they also arose suspicions. The movements of Ivana and the other team members were closely watched by Communist trainers, and they were not permitted to leave their rooms unescorted unless
they were training. After Ivana returned from each visit abroad, she had to endure an interview with Communist officials at the police station; she learnt to keep her answers short and factual, concerned that any enthusiasm she showed about the west would prevent her from travelling again. At 17, Ivana began studying at Charles University in Prague. She studied German and English, believing language skills would help her in her goal to move to the west, and she went on to work towards a master's degree in physical education. She also joined the university ski team and
started modelling. She embarked on a relationship with a young man named George Syrovatka, whose father was an architect and responsible for designing the Czech embassy in London, and the two would remain lifelong friends. There was change afoot in the country in early 1968, with new reforms being introduced allowing for more freedoms; Ivana and George enjoyed the burgeoning night life afforded in Prague by the relaxation of Communist restrictions. The architect of the 1968 reforms was the newly elected first secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Alexander Dubček. After his election in January,
advocating for the need for socialism with 'a human face', he introduced a series of changes, reducing control over the arts and travel and allowing for economic decentralisation. New cafes and dance halls opened, freedom of expression began to return and for a brief period known as 'the Prague Spring' the people of Czechoslovakia enjoyed freedoms denied to them for twenty years. However unfortunately, although not unsurprisingly, Dubček's reforms had not been well received by the USSR. In August 1968 this period of liberalisation was put to
an end by a Soviet occupation. Over 4000 Soviet tanks were sent to Prague, Dubček was arrested and those who resisted the occupation were executed or sent to Moscow. When Ivana saw the tanks arrive, she hid in her dormitory at the university and was relieved to go with the ski team to Italy the next day on a pre-planned trip. She pondered defection whilst there but decided against it, knowing if she were to defect she would be unlikely to see her family again. When she returned to Prague, the new cafes and clubs had closed and people were scared to leave their homes, with the city
swarming with Communist police and officials. As a result of the return to Soviet repression, Ivana's boyfriend George began planning to defect from Czechoslovakia with his family. Ivana was now also keen to leave, and George came up with a plan. The couple had a friend named Alfred Winklmayr, an Austrian skier. George suggested that Ivana marry Alfred so that she would be able to get an Austrian passport and leave the country without being labelled as a defector, therefore being able to return to visit family. Alfred was keen to help and so the couple married
in 1971 in Prague when Ivana was 22. After the ceremony, Alfred returned to Austria and George left to meet his parents in London, moving on to Canada from there as a defector. Ivana was granted an absentee divorce in 1973 as Alfred had moved to Los Angeles to teach skiing there. Shortly afterwards, she embarked on a relationship with Jiří Štaidl, who was a playwright, poet and musician. She fell in love with him, abandoning notions of leaving the country even though her Austrian passport had arrived. Sadly, Jiří was killed in a car accident in 1973 at the
age of 30, leaving Ivana devastated. Her parents supported her through this time, with her father reminding her that she needed to continue to work towards her goal of securing a better life in the west, without the stigma of defection so that her parents could visit her. As soon as she gained her degree, Ivana used her Austrian passport to leave Czechoslovakia. After leaving Czechoslovakia and moving onto Austria, Ivana's next move was to book a flight to Canada to stay with her father's sister in Toronto for 18 months. She started modelling in Montreal,
also taking night classes in order to improve her English. There, she reunited with her old boyfriend George Syrovatka, who was now also living in Montreal with his family, and Ivana eventually moved in with them. She continued to ski and became an instructor at Jay Peak resort in Vermont, and George opened a sports shop to sell and repair skis and bikes, where Ivana sometimes helped out. The two moved into their own apartment as Ivana continued to enjoy her newfound freedoms. In 1976 Ivana's agent booked her to promote the Olympics taking place in Montreal that year,
including a weekend show in New York, where Ivana would meet Donald Trump for the first time. Donald Trump was the son of Fred Trump, a successful property developer with a vast portfolio based in New York, and Mary Anne MacLeod, a Scottish immigrant who raised their children without nannies or other staff. He was born on 14th June 1946 at Jamaica Hospital and had two sisters, Maryanne and Elizabeth, and two brothers, Fred Jr. and Robert. The family were wealthy, with Fred gifting large amounts of money to his children on a regular basis. Donald grew
up in Queens, New York and was privately educated. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and began working within the family business in 1968. He took over as President in 1971 and oversaw several high-profile real estate projects such as the renovation of the Commodore Hotel (which became the Grand Hyatt) and Trump Tower. Whilst promoting the 1976 Olympics in New York, Ivana and some friends were waiting for a table whilst on a night out, at which point they were spotted by Donald. He used his relationship with
the manager to secure them a table and sat down with them to eat, paying the bill for the entire table at the end. He then offered the group a lift to their hotel in his limousine. He sent roses to Ivana's hotel the next day and invited her to dinner, following up with lunch the next day. The couple embarked on a nine-month whirlwind long-distance relationship, with Ivana still living in Canada and Donald living in New York. They would spend most weekends together, with Ivana travelling from Montreal and being met by Donald at the airport in his chauffeur-driven
limousine. He successfully proposed marriage to Ivana five months after they first met during a ski trip to Aspen. As whirlwind as their romance had been, it was not plain sailing towards the marriage ceremony for Donald and Ivana. Ivana moved to New York, saying a sad farewell to George, with whom she remained friends. She had yet to meet Donald's family, so the couple arranged a brunch with his father, mother, brothers and sisters. Here, Ivana made an impression by refusing to order the steak as everyone else had done to please Fred Trump, much to his shock as he was used to everyone falling into step with his demands. As her
relationship with Donald continued, Fred would also complain about Ivana's outfits which he deemed immodest, but she responded by continuing to choose daring designs. She got on well with his mother Mary however, finding her charming and kind, and she enjoyed attending Mary's homemade Sunday lunches. The wedding prenuptial agreements presented to Ivana a month before the wedding were eventually settled after long negotiations between herself and Donald, Ivana agreeing on receiving a financial settlement which would increase for each year they stayed together should they divorce.
She began to familiarise herself with New York through regular walks with her dog Chappy, as well as through a new friendship with Nikki Haskell, a socialite and TV host. Nikki introduced her to friends at lunches across the Upper East Side and the two were to become lifelong friends. With her and Donald's help, Ivana began to feel at home in New York. With Ivana's recent arrival in the city and her lack of contacts there, Donald and his secretary were to take the initiative in most of the wedding planning. Once the church, dinner and florists
were booked, Ivana would approve the finer details. She took charge of her wedding outfit, commissioning a fashion designer, John Warren, to design a modest white dress with long sleeves. The couple were married on 9th April 1977 at the Marble Collegiate Church, Fifth Avenue, New York. 600 guests were in attendance, few of which were Ivana's guests; her mother would not attend due to illness, but her aunt and father were there. The couple honeymooned in Acapulco but only for two days, as Donald needed to get back to New York to finalise a deal to buy a hotel,
which became the Grand Hyatt under the Trump Organisation. Donald was keen to involve Ivana in the family business once they were married, making her executive vice president for the interior design of the Grand Hyatt hotel. She proved herself quickly, despite the co-owners of the Hyatt and Fred Trump's scepticism, ensuring she managed the crews in charge of the refurbishment projects closely to ensure deadlines were met and that appropriate decisions were taken quickly. Soon after the wedding, Ivana became pregnant. She was determined to continue her work and insisted
on working long days on projects for the Trump Organisation. She gave birth to Donald Junior on 31st December 1977 after being induced; two days later she was back at work. More children followed; Ivana gave birth to Ivanka on 30th October 1981 and Eric on 6th January 1984. When the children were young, they spent summer weekends in Ivana and Donald's cottage in East Hampton, swimming at the beach and playing in the sand, and Ivana's parents would sometimes come to stay. The children visited Ivana's parents every summer, although with the country still behind
the Iron Curtain the family were spied upon by the Czech secret police whilst on vacation there. In later years Ivana and Donald sold the holiday cottage in the Hamptons and bought a summer house in Greenwich, Connecticut, so that they had less time to travel and Ivana would regularly drive the limousine there and back at the weekend. Later, after Donald purchased his Mar-a-Lago holiday resort in Florida they often spent holidays there. The family contracted two Irish nannies who became lifelong members of the household, Bridget and Dorothy, to support the upbringing of the children and Ivana's responsibilities.
The family moved into the penthouse on the top three floors of Trump Tower, with Ivana again being responsible for the design of the interior from 1980. Her interiors were luxurious, featuring gold leaf, crystal chandeliers and Italian marble and, when the children were older, she encouraged them to pick out colours and styles for their own bedrooms. The family worked to strict routines during the week, balancing family time, school and hobbies, which also supported Donald and Ivana's work responsibilities. Ivana encouraged the children
to take an interest in sports, and they all learnt to ski from an early age at Aspen, alongside taking part in other hobbies such as football, tennis, golf and karate. Ivana valued the competitive edge, resilience, and endurance sport would build in her children, and she was also keen to raise them to love the outdoors. She also kept a close eye on their school performance, working closely with them to boost their grades if they dropped. No matter how busy her or the children's schedules were, she always made sure to have breakfast with them and
sit with them during dinner time, even when she and Donald had evening occasions to attend. As the children became older and more independent, Ivana remained strict with her expectations. She would not tolerate piercings or tattoos and set an early curfew when the children were teenagers. She also limited the money they had access to, only too aware of the temptations open to teenagers with money, and when it came to birthday parties she made sure to avoid lavish over the top ceremonies and gifts, preferring to host parents and children in the Plaza Hotel, and keeping gifts
to skis or bikes. After parties the children were expected to write thank you notes for each and every present. The children were given chores and were expected to tidy up after themselves, Ivana seeing this as important to develop their sense of responsibility, and when the Trumps hosted evening events the children were expected to take a role, introducing themselves to guests, taking drinks orders and entertaining. They took on chores for pocket money when they were older, but Ivana was careful to ensure it was well spent rather than used for illegal substances or alcohol; she was keen to teach the children the value of money,
despite the family's privileged status. As Ivana raised her children, she continued to balance her mothering responsibilities with work. In 1985 she was made president and CEO of Trump Castle Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, the first woman to take that role, overseeing a staff of thousands. She scrutinised every purchase order, often doing so on Friday evenings when she brought her children to her office. They would often spend time in the hotel pool and exploring the building, as well as attending shows and concerts organised by Ivana. Then in 1987,
Donald appointed her to president and CEO of the Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue, a building close enough for her to see from the family home in Trump Tower, managing a staff of 1400. She would often bring the children with her to work when they were free, believing that they would learn how to manage and communicate with people, and she would take them through inspections of different sections of the hotel, reporting issues to be fixed and improvements to be made. Although Ivana had been successful in her roles working for the Trump organisation,
her very success began to cause difficulties for the couple's marriage. Donald began to resent her dedication to her work, as well as the long hours she worked, saying that a "softness disappeared" in her as her role developed in the company. In her memoir written in 2017, Ivana reflected that whilst working for the Trump Organisation brought her success it also meant that her and Donald had become more like business partners than spouses. During the 1980s there had been several rumours about the infidelities of Donald during his marriage. Whilst many of these were a result of baseless gossip, he did have a clandestine affair with Marla Maples,
a beauty queen and fitness model from Georgia, after meeting her in 1985. Donald moved Ivana from working in the Castle Hotel Casino in Atlantic City to overseeing the renovation of the Plaza Hotel to reduce the possibility of her running into Marla and raising her suspicions. Marla also spent a lot of time on Donald's yacht, the Trump Princess, after he bought it in 1987. Although the two had been careful not to be caught, with Donald allowing Marla to stay in his several properties to avoid the public eye, their affair was eventually exposed,
with the two being caught on camera together by The New York Post. Consequently, Ivana's marriage to Donald was undermined and the arguments and the distance between them escalated. After bumping into Marla, who was on a Christmas holiday in 1989 in Aspen like the Trumps, the two women had a heated confrontation on 30th December, during which Ivana screamed at Marla to "stay away from my husband." While the family continued their holiday as planned, the meeting of the two women had a lasting impact on Ivana's relationship with Donald. When they returned home,
although they shared their bed and spent time together, Ivana found herself refusing Donald's overtures as she was devastated and no longer trusted him. She filed for divorce in March 1990. The divorce was obviously to be a very public affair; Donald and Ivana had been portrayed as a power couple in the press since their marriage, with the two appearing on television talk shows such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, and the circumstances of the couple's split provided the tabloids with plenty of material. Whilst Ivana had many supportive friends who called and sent gifts,
she found herself disappointed with those, including a former Plaza employee and a ski instructor, who sold their stories concerning her marriage with Donald to the press. The family, including the children, were hounded by the press and Ivana was portrayed both as a wronged wife and a gold-digger by different newspapers. She was determined to remain strong for the children and help them maintain their relationship with their father. She ensured that she did not argue with Donald in front of them and spoke to them one by one before Donald moved out to another apartment
in Trump Tower, explaining what had happened and why she and Donald could no longer remain a couple, but reassuring them they could see their father whenever they wanted. Despite Ivana's attempts to maintain familiar routines and shield the children from media intrusions, it was difficult to keep them in the dark with so much attention in the press. On one occasion she went so far as to take them out of school and go to Mar-a-Lago with her parents when a particularly salacious story surfaced in the press about Donald in 1990. Although she and her
parents were careful not to bad-mouth Donald to the children, Don Jr got into trouble at school for becoming aggressive with two older children who were speaking negatively about Ivana, and he turned against his father and stopped speaking to him for one year. The other children maintained their relationship with Donald, Ivanka even visited him more often than usual in his office, making a point of spending time with him after he had moved out of the family home. It took over one year to reach a divorce settlement, with arguments focussed on the
prenuptial agreements that had been signed; Ivana argued that the prenuptial agreements should be revoked due to Donald's infidelity, where Donald insisted he had been faithful. Ivana's lawyers were aiming for half of Donald's worth which they estimated at $5 million, but Trump's finances had taken a downturn and that was not a realistic amount. A deal was eventually reached; divorce was finally granted by the judge in December 1990, cruel and inhuman treatment of Ivana cited as grounds for the split. The settlement included $10 million cash, use of Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach,
Florida for one month every year and a large mansion in Connecticut. Donald also had to pay spousal and child support totalling $950000 per year and Ivana obtained sole custody of the children. She had to sign a non-disclosure agreement as part of the settlement. Donald kept Trump Tower and went on to have a child named Tiffany with Marla, shortly after which the couple married, although his children with Ivana declined to attend. Their marriage ended three and a half years later. Marla later sought forgiveness through a British newspaper who contacted Ivana to
ask if Marla's apology would be accepted, but she refused to engage with this, always seeing Marla as the woman who entered a relationship willingly with a married man and father. Following the divorce, Ivana resigned from her role at the Plaza Hotel in July 1990 but stayed for six months to provide stability until a replacement for her could be found. She then went on an extended vacation, including a trip with the children to visit her parents in Czechoslovakia and a trip to London to meet friends and attend fashion shows. However, just as she was feeling
like she was beginning to recover from the divorce with a new sense of liberation, she received the sad news that her father, Milos, had died of a heart attack in October 1990 aged 63. He had been an important part of the children's lives, especially after the divorce, and had spent many holidays with the children, teaching them to fish and taking part in other outdoor pursuits. Despite all the bitterness that had been played out publicly between the Trumps during the divorce, Donald offered use of his private jet to transport Ivana and the children to Czechoslovakia to attend
the funeral and the couple stood together at the event. Donald's mother Mary was also in attendance, having developed a warm relationship with Milos during Ivana and Donald's marriage. Ivana was devastated by the loss of her father with whom she had been so close, and her pain was exacerbated by reporters hiding during the funeral to take photos of the children and herself in mourning. She took some solace in the fact that her father had lived long enough to see the fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989. Continuing to live in Trump Tower until 1994,
Ivana finally found a new home for herself and the children on East Sixty-Fourth Street, New York. She had the building, a former dentist's office, fully renovated using the contacts she had made whilst working for the Trump Organisation, and then herself and the children moved in. They continued to see Donald regularly and he made sure the children were all introduced into the Trump Organisation, taking them to construction sites so they could see how employees were managed and giving them projects to work on. Ivana moved on from Trump's enterprises and was
determined to go into business for herself, allowing her to work from home sometimes so that she could balance work and family life. She forged her own lines of business in the beauty and jewellery industries, launching several lines, and she formed a company named the House of Ivana, producing fragrance, jewellery and fashion items, mainly marketed on the home shopping channels such as QVC and the Home Shopping Network. She oversaw the quality of the products under her brand, personally inspecting them and wearing and utilising the products herself.
In the aftermath of the divorce Ivana also wrote several books, mainly of a self-help nature, particularly for those experiencing divorce and she also wrote an advice column entitled 'Ask Ivana'. One of her books For Love Alone was made into a film in 1996. Later in life, she would also write Raising Trump, an autobiographical work focussing on the values by which she raised her family. She also made regular television appearances, including the British version of Big Brother in 2010 and had a cameo in the film 'The First Wives Club' in which she was given the line;
'…don't get mad, get everything.' She also pursued other business interests, purchasing shares in a well-known Croatian newspaper and pursuing property developments which unfortunately never came through to fruition. Ivana would go on to marry twice again. She met the man who would become her second husband, an Italian businessman Riccardo Mazzuchelli, in 1991 at the Ascot Races in the United Kingdom, and the couple dated for several years, travelling to several countries. They married on 17 June 1995 at the restaurant Le Cirque in New York,
with the children from Ivana's first marriage all in attendance. The couple bought a house in London and split their time between there and New York so that Riccardo could be close to his son from his first marriage, Fedele. However, their commitments in different countries put a strain on their marriage, as well as Riccardo's obligations to Fedele who was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and could be violent, on occasion frightening Ivana's children. The couple divorced in 1997, although they remained good friends. Ivana later had a relationship with Count Roffredo Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona Lovatelli, an
Italian prince, count and duke from Rome, meeting him in Monaco in 1998 where she was to attend the Grand Prix. He had a house in New York, just one block away from Ivana's home so they were able to maintain a close relationship despite frequently travelling. The couple grew very happy together, both sharing a love of adventure. Sadly in 2005, whilst on a visit to his mother, Roffredo had a car accident and died as a result of a broken neck. Ivana was devastated on hearing the news from his mother but was unable to attend the funeral as she was snowed in Aspen. She
mourned for a while but continued to maintain her public lifestyle, knowing that she had to get on with her life despite the pain she was feeling. In 2006 Ivana attended the Cannes film festival where she met the Italian actor Rossano Rubicondi. Despite a considerable age gap between the two of over twenty-five years, the couple got on well, travelled and attended several high-profile events together, including sporting tournaments at Mar-a-Lago. They married on 12 April 2008 (despite a last-minute panic as they had forgotten to obtain a marriage licence),
with Ivana's ex-husband Donald hosting this huge event at Mar-a-Lago, with an exclusive rights deal with Getty to sell pictures to the media. Ivana had several bridesmaids; Ivanka was her maid of honour, and her sons Don Jr and Eric walked her down the aisle. The marriage did not last long however; Ivana found out that Rossano had a girlfriend just a few months after the wedding. They divorced in the following year but carried on their friendship until Rubicondi died in 2021. After that, Ivana did not seek out another marriage but did continue to enjoy the company of men. Whilst Ivana had focussed on bringing her
children up to value family and hard work above luxury, she lived a lavish lifestyle, owning her own yacht named M.Y Ivana for 12 years, as well as a Ferrari, gifted to her by Count Roffredo whilst they were in a relationship. She attended the Royal Ascot races in the UK every year, arriving in the United Kingdom a few days early in order to plan what she was going to wear and pick out the correct hats to match her outfits over the five day period of her attendance, as well as the dinners afterwards. Her lavish lifestyle did make her a target for criminals
however, and on a visit to Ascot and London the police contacted her to tell her she had been the target of a plot of robbery by a gang of thieves, and some years later some of her jewellery was stolen whilst staying in London. She stopped travelling with jewellery shortly afterwards. As Ivana's children matured into adults, took their own roles in the Trump organisation and started their own families, Ivana became a grandmother to 10 children, many of whom referred to her as 'Glam-ma'. She embraced this role, indulging her grandchildren whenever she
was in New York in a way she had not with her own children, for example, taking Ivanka's daughter Arabella to get manicures. She also made sure she attended school and sports events when she could. Her mother visited as much as possible from Czechoslovakia, remaining very close with her grandchildren and her great grandchildren. 2016 was a stressful year for Ivana's children as all three were heavily involved in Donald's campaign to become president of the United States, busy meeting people at rallies and events in support of their father and being very
much in the public eye, subject to scrutiny and criticism. With Donald's success in the campaign, he was inaugurated as President in January 2017. He invited Ivana to attend the inauguration which she did, but she turned down his offer to become ambassador to her home country, Czechoslovakia. Pleased as she was with the success of her ex-husband and her children on the political scene, Ivana had no desire to be part of it herself. As she entered her older years, Ivana became keen to slow the aging process as much as possible, focussing on living well, getting enough exercise and sleep. She continued exercising daily,
skiing every year. Competent in several languages, she also continued travelling spending time in Aspen, New York and the south of France, keeping herself abreast of current events through reading newspapers and ensuring she maintained tight control of her investments. Given her efforts, it was a surprise to many that Ivana was found dead at the age of 73 on 14th July 2022. She had fallen down the spiral stairs of her home in Manhattan and sustained several impact injuries to her torso. Her funeral took place on 20th July 2022 at the Church of St.
Vincent Ferrer and she was buried at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Mourners included her ex-husband Donald, her three children and their partners, Tiffany Trump and her mother Marla. Her $34 million worth of assets were split mostly between her three children, with Donald receiving nothing. She was awarded the Medal of Merit posthumously by the President of the Czech Republic three months after her death. What do you think of Ivana Trump? Was she a feminist entrepreneurial icon who survived a devastating marriage breakdown or was she a
beneficiary of the Trump organisation who never escaped from under Donald Trump's shadow? Please let us know in the comment section, and in the meantime, thank you very much for watching.
