PoliticsAitken's disgrace: The wife
Lolicia Aitken, aged 46, was born in Belgrade but moved to Switzerland at the age of five, writes Kamal Ahmed. At 20, she was given an import-export business by her father. 'I made a lot of money by the time I was 23. I was successful and full of ambition,' she said. The rest of her time was spent shopping.
In 1977, Lolicia met Jonathan Aitken at the exclusive Annabel's nighclub in London. After a quick dance she whispered: 'I'd like you to know that you're the man I'm going to marry.' Aitken was going out with Carol Thatcher at the time.
Jonathan and Lolicia married two years later and she was soon expecting twins. It was a difficult pregnancy and she was in hospital for six months before the birth, suffering from a blood clot near the heart. The twins were premature and Lolicia fell into depression.
Two years ago, the Daily Mirror revealed that soon after the birth Aitken was having an affair with Paula Strudwick, a prostitute. Lolicia stood by him.
She did her best to fit into London life, admitting that she was a 'thick political wife'. She took up tennis and made her name as a dinner hostess, laying on lavish events. But money did not bring happiness. 'Being a socialite became routine for me. You always need a bigger fix to be happy.' She converted to Buddhism at the age of 33, going to a retreat off Scotland, and also dabbled with Native American medicine and Chinese spiritualism.
On Thursday, the couple separated. That day both Lolicia and the Aitkens' daughter Victoria were due to give evidence in the libel trial, saying that they had travelled to Paris to pay the Ritz bill.
British Airways ticket stubs and Budget rent-a-car accounts revealed that neither had been to Paris that weekend.
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