Glamour, Scandal, and Survival with Countess Ilene Medecin
This is the EWN Podcast Network.
Cathy:Welcome to late boomers, our podcast guide to creating your third act with style, power, and impact. Hi. I'm Cathy Worthington.
Merry:And I'm Merry Elkins. Join us as we bring you conversations with successful entrepreneurs, entertainers, and people with vision who are making a difference in the world.
Cathy:Everyone has a story, and we'll take you along for the ride on each interview, recounting the journey our guests have taken to get where they are, inspiring you to create your own path to success. Let's get started. Hello, and welcome to Lake Boomers. I'm Kathy Worthington, and I'm here with my cohost, Mary Elkins. And we are welcoming a new guest to our show today, Countess Aileen Medecin, the former first lady of Nice, France, and the French Riviera.
Merry:And I'm Merry Elkins. Aileen lived the life that little girls dream of, of glitz and glamour of the French Riviera, rubbing shoulders with royals and celebrities. Now she's written a memoir titled Arrested about her exciting times there. Welcome, Eileen. We're looking forward to hearing about your book and about your story.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Well, thank you so much for having me. It's really wonderful to be on your podcast, and thank you about helping me to promote my book.
Merry:It's called know that it needs that much promotion, but we'll get into that later.
Countess Ilene Medecin:I want you
Merry:to tell us all about it.
Cathy:But first, Eileen, where did you grow up, And did you ever dream about what you wanted to do in life? And did you ever imagine you'd have this life you've lived?
Countess Ilene Medecin:You know something? I grew up with Disney movies. So, of course and this is in Beverly Hills. And then when I was two and a half, we moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, and that's kind of significant because my father was washing the money for my uncle who was a well known gangster, and we opened up Wow. And so he was legitimizing the money, and so we were there for four years and then came back to Beverly Hills and then moved out actually to Encino for four years and then came back to Beverly Hills and that's where I grew up.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Mhmm.
Cathy:Wow. Did you envision what could ever happen going to be
Countess Ilene Medecin:in I've always lived in romance in my mind from the time I was cognizant. And I've always loved Europe and I thought, oh god, it would be wonderful if I could marry somebody eventually in England, because at that time I didn't speak anything but English, and, you know, and and be over there and have just this really, you know, incredible romantic British life over there. That didn't happen. And something else happened which I wasn't quite it wasn't in my bucket list.
Merry:And Should I ask you how you met your husband Jacques Medecin? Because he was one of those people. He was the mayor of Nice, he was the president of the French Riviera, and he was a member of the Italian Gemedic family,
Countess Ilene Medecin:which is royal, isn't it? Yes. They were aristocrats in Italy, the Medicis, and they were, you know, known actually for a lot of debauchery and a lot of which my husband actually, you know, a descendant, I must say he was quite wild.
Merry:Well, talk about how you met him and what happened when you first first met him.
Countess Ilene Medecin:I was actually having lunch with a friend of mine at the Brighton Cafe in Beverly Hills, and I was eating I'll never forget this because I was eating their famous sandwich. I had a meatloaf sandwich on rye and the male nurse of my uncle who was Max Factor and he was the cosmetic magnet, was passing by the window and saw me, we used to party together, and he came in and he says, you know, Aye, I haven't seen you, you know, in like, you know, a few months, what's going on? And he says, Oh, by the way, this is Jacques Medsin, this is Max's niece, Eileen. And I stood up and I looked at him and I've always been crazy about Rosano Bronzi. So he looked like Rosano
Merry:Tell our the type he was.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Tall. He was about six two at the time because everybody had been shrinking. He had this beautiful mustache. He had, you know, gray hair and a personality mean, you could just tell that he was powerful. I mean, when he came in and I stood up and we shook hands, there was an electrical current that went through our arms.
Countess Ilene Medecin:And I'm telling you, we looked at each other and as he said later, he said it was the coup de foudre, which was the lightning bolt, and we just looked at each other and he said please come shopping with me. And so I said to the man I was with, I said I'm sorry but I have to leave. And I said but I'm gonna pay for my sandwich because I'm leaving you. So we went up to we were walking up Rodeo Drive because he was in Canada. He was minister at the time and he had a lot of appointments with the different mayors and the different ministers and they all got stuck in the airport because of an electrical failure.
Countess Ilene Medecin:And he decided that he was holding too many positions in the country and he was having a nervous breakdown and a physical breakdown. And he says I gotta get out of here just for a few days because we finished all our business. So he called his press secretary in Paris who actually was having an affair with Dooney, who was the male nurse of my Uncle Max Factor. Anyway, so that's how we met and we went up to Mr. Guy's, which was a male store, which was like the store, one of the stores for men, in Beverly Hills on Rodeo.
Countess Ilene Medecin:And I stood next to him as he was getting some summer clothes, because he only had winter clothes for Canada. And we stood next to each other and he leaned into me and my knees buckled. And I've never had any kind of reaction or emotion like that ever And I just was fascinated by him and I was wondering if he felt the same thing. Well, he was. So we'll take it off from there.
Countess Ilene Medecin:So when would that have been? That year? 09/23/1976.
Merry:Wow.
Cathy:Good memory. Oh, sure. Never forget that date. Changed my life. Well, tell us tell us about what life was like for you in France.
Cathy:Was it hard for you to learn to speak French?
Countess Ilene Medecin:Well Excuse me. Sorry. Go ahead. Sorry.
Cathy:No. That's fine.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Okay. Jack had said to me, you know, Americans, they never learn other languages. And he was very, very jealous and protective because I was almost 21 years younger. And he wanted to make sure that he was like constantly with me and so he would translate for me everything. And he said I will translate for you, my darling, for the rest of our lives.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Well, I don't like to hear that. Saying that, you know, you don't have to speak French, you'll never speak French. So I decided that I was gonna speak French if I'm in France, you know. So we hired actually a British French teacher and she taught me a few things to say. I had maybe six lessons from her and then I was thrown in the public.
Countess Ilene Medecin:So basically, I learned French by just being in the public and speaking with people
Merry:Making mistakes like we all make.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Mistakes I made were so funny. I was It was funny. I was actually the godmother of this new fireboat and it was named Aileen. Oh. I was supposed to like take a bottle of champagne and crack and crack and crack.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Okay? Must have done it 20 times, it didn't crack. So Jacques took it from me and he cracked it and I went and he gave me the mic and I had just learned a little French and I said, Je suis le marend du pompier, which I was trying to say I was the godmother of the fireboat. But pompier also means giving a blow job. So I said, I am the queen of head.
Countess Ilene Medecin:And all the press and all the people were hysterical, and they were looking at me and grabs a mic and he says, my my wife is learning French and she meant to say she's the godmother of the fireboat and thank you very much. So I made some gasps. Believe me.
Cathy:Oh, that's a great story though. You wouldn't take it back. It's fabulous.
Countess Ilene Medecin:The saddle.
Merry:So what were some of your duties there though as the first lady of Nice?
Countess Ilene Medecin:I would say like any first lady, I was the President of Honor of all the different clubs, especially the American club, the British club, the Australian club, all the English speaking clubs, and obviously all the French. And I was also honored to be the president of honor for the Jewish Jewish club over there, and they were so happy to have me, you know. So that was great. So and I cut ribbons and I inaugurated hospitals and everything. We were sister cities with 22 cities around the world.
Countess Ilene Medecin:And so I got an education that was unreal because we were sister cities with some communist cities, some socialist cities, Western cities, just all over the globe. And I had an incredible, incredible education first hand and that will be with me the rest of my life. I mean everything has formed who I am today from all of my experiences. And they were absolutely incredible at the top, but they were also incredible at the bottom. And the only thing
Merry:Well, we wanna know about that. But but first, tell us tell us a little bit about your book, your memoir. Okay.
Countess Ilene Medecin:I'm gonna just do it's called Arrested because I was arrested and put in jail.
Merry:Well, tell me. Is that the meaning of the title there? I mean
Countess Ilene Medecin:Yes. I was arrested.
Merry:What happened? Happened?
Countess Ilene Medecin:Oh, my God, it's such a long story. But I'm just going to read you this quickly. This is the introduction.
Merry:Show our YouTube people the can you hold it higher? Yeah. There it is. Good. That's the book.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Okay. That's the book. Okay. As I found myself lying on the top bunk in the cell of the toughest women's prison in all of France, I knew I was in big trouble. I looked down at the three other women in their beds, the French prostitute, the Muslim drug dealer, and the young Muslim girl who bit off her mother in law's finger.
Countess Ilene Medecin:I was thinking this would certainly make interesting dinner conversations someday if I ever get out of here. Many years have now passed since these traumatic events occurred. While the memories remain vivid, I also bear the scars of falling off of a wild ride. Fortunately, I was able to recover enough and stand up to lead my life down a very different treasured path. That's the introduction.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Wow. That's good.
Cathy:Because I
Countess Ilene Medecin:was in jail and let me tell you something. I was actually in jail for five days. It was totally unexpected because Jacques had been arrested before, but he got out of jail, But he went he escaped through Italy and went back to Uruguay because we were in political exile living in Uruguay.
Cathy:And Were you were you ever told what the charges were?
Countess Ilene Medecin:It was it's always about money. And so said that the Nice opera was giving money to a certain head that, head of the opera that Jacques had chosen and there were millions and millions and millions of dollars that were missing. But socialists were in and they wanted Jacques, you know, they wanted to do anything to him because he was the king of the French Riviera and was always swinging boats. So, excuse me, he was arrested for that and in France, under Napoleonic law, the spouse is responsible for anything that the spouse does. So I didn't realize that I was on an international list to be arrested and put in jail.
Cathy:So I
Countess Ilene Medecin:went to visit some friends, my friends which I used to visit every year but I would fly from England where my friend Trevor Mound was. He was the British ambassador to France and we became very close. So I would visit him because he had retired and then I would fly down to Italy and my friends would come across the border. Well, when Jacques was released and went back to Uruguay, I thought everything was okay. So from England, from London, I flew into Nice and they arrested me immediately at the airport.
Countess Ilene Medecin:And Oh, man. They really tortured me. It was it was bad because they wanted to make an example of me.
Merry:And Oh, my gosh.
Cathy:So do you cover do you cover a lot of that in the book? Cover
Countess Ilene Medecin:everything in great detail.
Cathy:Well, how difficult was it for
Countess Ilene Medecin:you to write this memoir then? You know, it was very interesting because when I first came back, there were projects that were supposed to be done. They contacted me, there was supposed to be a movie done, we started to get going with it and the producer had a heart attack and died. I mean there were lots of things didn't come through. Every time there was a book deal or there was this or movie or a documentary, everything fell through because of either illness or it was too how can I say it was so scandalous that the French at the time didn't want to get involved?
Countess Ilene Medecin:I knew that whatever I wrote, whatever was written about me, I would never get any royalties from anything because it would all be confiscated by the French government. So writing this book for me, it was easy and it was very emotional and there were parts where I was writing where I was hysterical crying because my daughter, with everything that had happened, she came down with breast cancer and so I described everything with that and her plight, you know, she was like kidnapped from me. I mean there was so much going on and it's just amazing that I'm I'm alive.
Merry:Yeah, well you got very sick too, didn't you?
Countess Ilene Medecin:I got very sick because Jacques There's a place in Switzerland called La Prairie and they were having youth shots and they would take these placentas of lambs and veals and they would make a serum out of it and you would have seven shots, they would shoot it into your body and it was supposed to make everything stronger. Ronald Reagan and Nancy went there to get the youth shots and so Jacques said, Well, you know, let's go do this. And I was 40 at the time, so that was the youngest I could be to get these shots. Well, these shots were so horrendous. Even Jacques, who used to get his teeth done with no Novocaine, okay?
Countess Ilene Medecin:It was writhing around in the bed. Was absolutely writhing around. Was horrendous. When I came back I started getting sick weren't Back quite sure
Merry:to United States.
Countess Ilene Medecin:We got back to news after the treatments and I started getting sick and I didn't know why. And I found out, we found out that my lamb, my veal, whatever it was, had some sort of a bacteria in it and I ended up with a staph infection that destroyed all of my mucus lining from my esophagus through my stomach all the way through my bladder and out. And I almost died and it was horrendous, but you have to read the book to find out because I describe everything in detail, everything.
Merry:Well, we do know that you survived it.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Yes, I survived it. And I found actually a fantastic doctor, his name was Doctor. Fred Kite and he was experimenting with a serum that he had made up and he funneled it down my throat through my stomach and funneled it up and it destroyed all of the inflamed mucus lining from the golden staph infection. And I was able to regenerate new mucus lining and they said that, you know, I would not probably regenerate more than 75% if I was lucky and I'm very lucky because I don't live with that kind of pain today. But I am susceptible because my mucus lining is damaged but it's much, you know, like it's healthier than it obviously was, that I just, in my mind, I have to be careful.
Countess Ilene Medecin:I mean, I can eat what I want, I'm lucky, and at that point also, I almost lost my feet, I was in the mountains,
Merry:They have to read the book to find all that out.
Countess Ilene Medecin:I mean, it goes on and on and on. It doesn't stop. And the
Merry:doesn't. Chapters The book is great fun. I read it. But I want veer back to talking about life in France with your husband Jacques. Because he was, according to the book, you both were very close friends, or Jacques was a friend of Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Merry:And when you were introduced to Princess Grace and Rainier, you Yes. What was the protocol? What did you have to do?
Countess Ilene Medecin:Well, I met Rainier first. Jacques and my relationship was such a scandal. They said that it they hadn't had a scandal like that in over a hundred years. Oh. You know, I was an American, I was a young girl.
Countess Ilene Medecin:And here I am becoming the first lady of Nice France in the French Riviera, a Medici Countess. Did I know? I didn't know. So I was the only other American on the Riviera other than Grace. So and Jacques was was was very close.
Countess Ilene Medecin:I mean, they were like best friends with Prince Rainier because whatever Prince Rainier wanted to do construction wise out of Monaco, which would be on our territory, he would have to have Jack's approval. And so when it was time for me to meet Grace because she didn't want to meet me because, as I said, it was a scandal and then Princess Caroline was marrying Geno and they got divorced. So finally, I was allowed, you know, to come to
Cathy:Wouldn't Grace have been considered an equal scandal? Was American and all that. Right. But
Countess Ilene Medecin:Rene didn't divorce for her. Jacques divorced for me. And it was all it was all over every place. I mean, was in England, Italy. Oh, that's
Cathy:what that's what made the difference.
Countess Ilene Medecin:That was a good difference. And so when I had when I it was time for me to meet Grace, it was at the Grand Prix, the dinner, and it was a dinner in Monaco at the palace. And so Jack said to me, Well, you're going have to learn how to curtsy and kiss her hand. And I went, What? Kiss her hand.
Countess Ilene Medecin:I said, I'm an American. Said, We don't do that, you know? I mean, she's an American. He said, If you don't do it, you're going to cause a big scandal. I said, Okay.
Countess Ilene Medecin:I had to take curtsy lessons, bend all the way to the floor, take her hand and kiss her hand and say I am very honored to meet you, your royal highness. I was so nervous but I did it. I did it and I learned my lessons and I can't get down now because I'm older. Can't get down on my knees now. But that was an experience and when she came into the room, it was Rainier, Jacques, myself and then bodyguards.
Countess Ilene Medecin:She came in, I hate to say it, her hair was askew, her crown was toppled like this, she was very, very chunky. She was drunk and I was like very surprised. But funny thing is Christian Dior made me a dress out of this fabulous material and they made her a dress out of the same material but it was different. And so when I saw her in the dress, going I don't believe it, that looks like my dress. Thank goodness I wasn't wearing that.
Countess Ilene Medecin:But
Cathy:Oh, good.
Countess Ilene Medecin:I had to That's how I met Grace. Then I
Cathy:was Eileen, I have to tell you, I was at one time with my husband presented to Ranier and Grace in a receiving line in Monaco when we were visiting there with Kenny Rogers. They wanted to meet Kenny Rogers, the singer. Right. And somehow, that's how we got invited to the palace. I think it was outside in the palace grounds.
Cathy:Uh-huh. But I I wasn't told about curtsying or anything, so I guess I didn't do the protocol protocol.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Yeah. Probably because I was in France and I was holding a position.
Cathy:You had He
Countess Ilene Medecin:needed me to bow to her. And I understand that because I always Uh-huh. She was I always liked her as an actress, I thought she was a beautiful woman. Gorgeous. Yeah.
Countess Ilene Medecin:She had one time she was gorgeous. Yeah, her whole life with Rainier was
Merry:Difficult. Quite
Countess Ilene Medecin:difficult. Very difficult. As a matter of Was that, yeah. Later on, Rainier was having an affair with this beautiful woman and she was so sweet. I don't mention any names, but we used to have dinner with them so he could be away, you know, and do his thing.
Countess Ilene Medecin:And Jacques was always his beard. And I became their beard. So Wow. That's tough.
Cathy:Well, you had mentioned about Nice being a sister city to 22 other cities. Mhmm. So can you tell us some experiences that you had while visiting those cities? Like, what stands out or what was funny or what was awful or what whatever.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Okay. One of the cities was in Hungary, Szeged. I will never forget this. First of all, it was during the communist time and they were still behind the curtain. So we were doing all these incredible sites and doing things and we were on this it was like a wagon and we would drive with these Hungarian, you know, gauchos and we would drive to a restaurant and we would be served, you know, incredible meals and dah dah dah dah and met all the dignitaries.
Countess Ilene Medecin:I get to the we get to the airport and we're ready to leave and I go to the bathroom and this young girl, as I'm coming out of the stall, comes and says to me, Madame Metzen, I just wanted to speak English with you. I heard that you were an American and that you were a nice person and I hitchhiked all the way from the other side of Hungary and so I said to her, I said, are you okay? And she goes, well, not really. She says, I learned English, I wanted to learn English and I just wanted to speak English with you. And so I said, how unhappy are you?
Countess Ilene Medecin:And she went into detail about how unhappy she was there. And I said, I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna help you defect. And when I gave her all my money, we had a code. I got her telephone number and the code that we would talk about it, but it was like we were talking about our cat.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Is your cat ready to come? And so I talked to her back and we got her out and she came to Nice and then we got her fiance out and they're both doctors. And they're living in Nice and that was very very special to me. Her name was Dora. Pictures and the description is in the book.
Countess Ilene Medecin:That's beautiful.
Merry:It is.
Cathy:Is there anything kind of funny that happened in one of the cities or something that you look back on joyfully? Can I read you something?
Countess Ilene Medecin:Sure. You're not gonna believe this. Okey dokey. Okay. So we were in New York City with Dubai.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Okay. My glasses on here because you're gonna love this one. Okay. There was a sheikh. We were in Dubai because they wanted to build on the French Riviera, so you had to go through Jacques.
Countess Ilene Medecin:So they were winding us and dining us and I was the only woman there. And we had our press secretary and a bodyguard. We were invited to a dinner with all of the sheikhs in the area and there was one sheikh that was missing. So we started the dinner without him and then during half the meal he came in and he told us this story. Adjacent to his land was another sheikh who had a slightly smaller fiefdom and a daughter.
Countess Ilene Medecin:The two sheikhs agreed they would unite their states by the first sheikh with a larger fiefdom marrying the daughter of the second sheikh with a smaller fiefdom. The first sheikh would give the wedding party in his grand dining hall. The ceremonies proceeded. The entire family of the new bride had been invited to this grand event and rewind and dine to excess. At the end of the extravagant meal, the sheik had his personal assassin swoop in and cut off all their heads, except for his new bride.
Countess Ilene Medecin:He said to her, you are either with me or you are with your family. All the land is mine, it's your choice. You can lay with them or be my wife. She decided to remain his life. Now I heard this when this man came in, this she came in, first hand, and all of the hair on my arms were standing up and I have a very expressive face if you haven't noticed that now.
Countess Ilene Medecin:And Jack had his hand on my thigh and he says, Do not say a thing, do not react, do not have one of your faces. And that's something that I'll never forget. And it I I describe it even more so in detail in the book. Mhmm.
Cathy:Good story.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Hello.
Cathy:It's But you must have kind of a story for every city.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Every city. Every city. You know, and I can go on other things that
Merry:Oh, god. Well, actually
Cathy:Are there is niece sister cities with anybody in The United States?
Countess Ilene Medecin:Beverly Hills, right? No. That was we were gonna be sister cities with Carmel. We had met with Clint Eastwood. And we were because Cannes got to they wanted to be with Beverly Hills.
Cathy:Yeah. I knew that Cannes was. Yeah.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Yeah. And so we became we were becoming sister cities with Carmel, but that's also before we were escaping. I mean, was you know, so I don't think it went through.
Cathy:Oh, it didn't happen.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Didn't go through. So
Cathy:But nothing on the East Coast or anything like that?
Countess Ilene Medecin:We were sister cities with Dallas on the East Coast. Oh. Oh. Oh. That's
Cathy:interesting. Dallas. Dallas. Yeah.
Merry:You spent time there?
Countess Ilene Medecin:That's when I decided that Jack and I, we loved each other. I mean, he was after me. Loved it, you know. I mean, he really came after me, he wouldn't let me go. On our way to Dallas, and this was in the very beginning and we're on the plane going there and he says to me, well, I've made up my mind, I'm going to quit politics, divorce my wife and marry you and live in bliss.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Well, Jacques was never gonna quit his political life, believe me. So that's when we went and I say it in the book and I regurgitate cheese and crackers that I had in my mouth I was so shocked. And then when we got to Tahiti, this was another because we were also Sister Cidji was Yes. And so that's when I realized that I was in love with him. I'd never been in love before and I I just it was like so clear.
Countess Ilene Medecin:We were on this yacht that he had rented and he was standing at the back of the bow and we almost we hit a wave and I thought he was gonna go over and, you know, be eaten by the rudders or whatever, okay? And I've never had anything so clear in my life. It was like boom, if this man goes over, I will lose the love of my life. And so he looked at me and he said, Are you okay? And I said, I'll tell you when we get back to our little grass shack in Tahiti.
Countess Ilene Medecin:And I said to him, what you saw was me realizing for the first time in my life I'm in love and I will marry you. Well, he starts to cry, then I'm crying, he bends me back, he's kissing me, and from that point on, we started making plans. It was a two year, absolutely scandalous, scandalous time before we finally got married.
Merry:We want to hear more about that. Because everyone gets
Countess Ilene Medecin:to listen to the book, it's all written out and it's all the truth and I'm gonna read you one more thing which is gonna really really surprise you. We have so many people always wanting to give us dinners and give us money for campaigns. So we were invited to Paris one night to this couple who were giving a lot of money for the campaigns and they were giving us a dinner. So, I'm not gonna go I mean, I described the dinner and everything, but as soon as the waiters cleared the dessert dishes, two butlers appeared and let us down a long hallway to another room where they opened two large double carved wooden doors. Holy Maird!
Countess Ilene Medecin:Surprise is not the word. Absolutely shocking might be better and we were the guests of honor. There on a huge bed in the middle of the room with brass posts reaching towards a black painted ceiling were our two hosts, husband and wife. The husband was standing on the bed and had handcuffed his wife to the brass bed posts. He was whipping her with a black snake whip.
Countess Ilene Medecin:They were quite naked, the gorgeous gown had disappeared, the snappy tuxedo had vanished. Underwear and intimate apparel were no longer necessary either. To my surprise, the other diners were not alarmed. Sounds and deep groans began emerging from the crowd. People were swaying on their feet amazed and mesmerized and obviously approving.
Countess Ilene Medecin:The seemed to coincide with each pop of the whip on the wife's hindquarters. There was a kind of rhythm going on and the lady was smiling. She clenched teeth. Her hubby standing behind her was sweating and grinning. The rest of the crowd started stripping and doing things to each other that were equally kinky and weird.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Everyone wanted to participate in the action. They tore off their expensive garments as quickly as possible and everybody was naked and raw except for Jax and myself. People were too busy to notice that Jax and I were standing there with clothes on observing. Was there fine print on the invitation that we missed? There were more whips and articles made of leather, glass, metal hanging from the wall, everyone seemed to know exactly which instrument to use for each purpose.
Countess Ilene Medecin:So I was fascinated and Jacques just he he stood there and he just took my hand and he's more out of here. But it goes into detail, even more detail. So I have unusual experiences around the world.
Merry:Yes, you have. And I have to interject here that Aileen and I have known each other for a very long time. She's No, told me I don't say how long.
Cathy:You were in school together. Right?
Merry:Thank you, Kathy. We were. We were in high together. Yes, sir. Which was, you know, twenty years ago.
Merry:My god. Anyway, she's she's told me a lot of these stories, and I continue to be fascinated by them, even though I've heard some of them before. But talk about I think you've mentioned some of this already, but can you tell us a few more of the highs and maybe some of the lows that you haven't talked about?
Countess Ilene Medecin:Well, the highs were incredible. I mean, I grateful and privy to meet royalty. All of the Italian actors in cinema and Americans and the French because we sponsored the Italian Film Festival for a while. And there was Jean Maraud who was my favorite French actress who had she was the first French actress I guess to do a movie that was I saw in, you know, in The States, in LA. And so she was coming and was an interesting one.
Countess Ilene Medecin:So I was taking care of her and I heard from my girlfriends, you have to be careful with Jan because she doesn't really like women, she can be very rude and everything. So the minute she got into my car I said to her, I am a big fan of yours from America. And I said, I saw your movie when I was like, what, 15 years old? I said, Incredible. So she started warming up to me right away and She eventually We went to lunch, we had dinner, we talked, she invited me to Paris to have an affair with her.
Countess Ilene Medecin:That was an interesting highlight. I sort of mentioned it in the book, but I never got there because I was busy and she was busy and we could never coordinate. Who knows what it would have happened? Never know, really.
Cathy:Don't know.
Merry:Bet you were a bit curious, but
Countess Ilene Medecin:Yeah. Well, you know, and also I was became close to Sergio Leone. Mhmm. And I was gonna have an affair with him, and I was almost on my way to Rome but he had gone down to the Southern Italy and unfortunately he died before we got together. But, no, there's it's very scandalous, lots of affairs in there.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Mhmm. And Well then You
Merry:could say that you should write a book about this, but you have.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Right? Mhmm. Yeah. Well, people are not you should
Cathy:write told you that.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Yeah. I'm not writing I a
Cathy:mean, what was it like then to come back to The US after all that you'd been through?
Countess Ilene Medecin:With everything and also being deathly ill and finally getting over that and everything. My whole you know, it's like you're a different person. I mean, my experience is nobody can handle those experiences so I didn't talk about them too much except for, you know, a couple of close friends. Was difficult because I was completely, you know, my mindset was different, I had learned things that you don't learn just because you're traveling around the world and you're seeing museums and restaurants, you know, and going to shops and stuff. I mean, I was I was, you know, really in the belly of it.
Countess Ilene Medecin:And so, I mean, the people I talked to and it just, you know, these things don't leave your mind. I live with a little PTSD and every once in a while I'll have a meltdown and be in my closet in the fetal position and then I'm okay. So thank goodness it doesn't happen too often.
Merry:It's Well, happens with your daughter? Talk about that a little bit because when you came back here
Countess Ilene Medecin:Yeah. That was horrendous. Well, was living in Uruguay and going back and forth for about three and a half years, and I wanted her to come back with me. She was completely brainwashed by Jacques, and he was very abusive with her and I didn't know any about all this. But she ended up when she finally came back to me because he was murdered, thank you very much.
Countess Ilene Medecin:That was the only way I was gonna get her back, I can tell you. I mean, he was escaping into the Pampas, I mean, in Uruguay, I mean, it's unreal. And she ended up having breast cancer and that absolutely destroyed us. I mean, when I talk about this, I'm sorry because I get very emotional, it's hard for me to talk about it, what we went through. Mhmm.
Countess Ilene Medecin:And thank goodness, you know, thank goodness, you know, she's in remission today. But she lives with tremendous PTSD because she was tortured by him. Was a point why where she was washing her hair and the electric electricity would always go off because they didn't have a good grid there. And so she would come out of the shower and she had run out of conditioner for her hair. And so he had burst into the room and he said, What's going on?
Countess Ilene Medecin:And she says, Well, you know, Daddy, do you think you could get me some conditioner? And he picked her up by her hair and threw her across the room. Now if I would have known what was going on with him and this was happening because she was too afraid to tell me, I I would have I probably would have been in jail for killing him. Mhmm. Our daughter is is extremely she's a good person.
Countess Ilene Medecin:She's a sweet girl. Extremely, extremely damaged.
Cathy:What country was she born in?
Countess Ilene Medecin:I made sure when I was seven months pregnant to come back to The States. I wanted her to be an American citizen. Mhmm. Because at that time, you couldn't have a dual or triple passport. And so but eventually, she was she'll always be an American citizen.
Countess Ilene Medecin:She had a French passport and then she had a Uruguayan passport. But she doesn't have anything to do with those those anymore because she Mhmm. Loves America. Oh,
Merry:that's one of your doggies. Right?
Countess Ilene Medecin:I'm supposed to take care of her. I'm sorry. That was Rosie. Get that Rosie. Get the poopy out.
Countess Ilene Medecin:No more barking. So sorry.
Merry:That that livens up the conversation a bit to give more positivity on it.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Yeah. Now, it's interesting because the audio is being done. And this woman, her name is Laura Lockwood, she's done a Why lot
Merry:don't you talk about what's happening with your book now, how it's doing as long as you veered into that.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Oh, okay. I'm really surprised. It's I have been getting royalty checks and I have been selling. Amazon has been back ordered and won't have orders in that people are waiting for until September. Can't keep the book.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Nice. I'm amazed. Nice. You know? And my publisher is just loving it and it's selling.
Countess Ilene Medecin:So that's why I needed to have it translated which is finished now, it's gonna be published in French. That should be a big audience, it better be. And it'll also be sent to Uruguay, it'll be sent to England, And then as I said, audio is being done and I've listened to over halfway through the book. Who's joined the audio? Laura Lockwood.
Countess Ilene Medecin:And I've been sent these chapters listening to them and I'm like, that was my life? That was me? I mean, a little frightening there. Oh, god. So yeah, there were chapters that I I had to stop because I was crying.
Countess Ilene Medecin:And No. Understandable. Trying to get emotional because I'm I'm remembering those chapters.
Cathy:Right. Yeah. Eileen, what would you like our audience to have as a takeaway today?
Countess Ilene Medecin:I'm gonna read you something. Okay. This is the end of the book because I wasn't gonna do this, but it says, at this point in my life, I choose not to waste my energy with toxic people. There are so many things I wish I could reveal at this time, but it wouldn't be wise. Too many people have allegedly disappeared because of the things I was privy to as Jack's wife.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Even though most of the dangerous people have died, I won't take chances by consciously putting myself in harm's way. Well, that's politics for you. And what I have written is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, which is racing up for this memoir. Regarding my untold stories, there may be a more appropriate time post mortem for them to be published. I am very grateful to share these chapters of my life with hope that readers can fathom my first hand experiences.
Countess Ilene Medecin:It would make me happy if my story serves as an inspiration for others to seek and fulfill their own true dreams. I have always pushed my life to the fullest to accomplish my goals and as harrowing as it's been, I now believe I have succeeded in finding the correct path. So when India becomes safe for travel again, will plan my next trip to Udaipur. I shall pay homage and thank Ganesh for his loving guidance and support. I'm just waiting for the word go to get on that plane.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Until then, I wish you all Namaste. Because I spent a lot India, I've got over 77 pictures in the book. Mhmm. And it proves what I'm saying. Because I know when I'm reading a memoir, if I don't see pictures, I'm going, okay, is that really what happened?
Countess Ilene Medecin:You know, I've got pictures to prove everything. I've got pictures of me in jail. Right. You know Oh, wow. Of Good.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Yeah.
Merry:Well, that's that's very it's heartwarming to hear that and that you've recovered so well from all those crazy, insane, fun, and horrible experiences, and to hear that your daughter Joy is doing so well.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Yes. She's doing well.
Merry:You, my friend.
Countess Ilene Medecin:Oh, thank you both so much. I really appreciate you wanting to hear me. Yeah. This has been a real honor for me. Thank you so much.
Merry:Well, our guest today on Late Boomers has been Countess Aileen Medecin, the former First Lady of Nice, France, and the French Riviera. If you would like to learn more about the Countess's life and you've heard some here, but there's so much more or you'd like to purchase her book, you can contact her via her website, countessaileenmedecin.com. And you can purchase her book, Arrested, on Amazon or through her publisher, Book Baby. Thank you.
Cathy:And thank you for listening to our Late Boomers podcast and subscribing to our Late Boomers podcast channel on YouTube. Listen in next week when you'll meet another exciting guest. You can listen to Late Boomers on any podcast platform and look at our new website, lateboomers.us, where you can find all our episodes and descriptions. Please follow us on Instagram IamKathyWarthington and IamMaryAlkins and LateBoomers. Thanks again, Countess Aileen Medcen.
Merry:Thank you. Namaste.
Cathy:Thank you for joining us on late boomers, the podcast that is your guide to creating a third act with style, power, and impact. Please visit our website and get in touch with us @lateboomers.us. If you would like to listen to or download other episodes of late boomers, go to ewnpodcastnetwork.com.
Merry:This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and most other major podcast sites. We hope you make use of the wisdom you've gained here and that you enjoy a successful third act with your own style, power, and impact.
