The Hiltons: The True Story of an American Dynasty (71 page)

Nicky and Elizabeth leave the church after their wedding in Los Angeles.
(Everett Collection/Rex Features)

Sisters-in-laws Elizabeth Taylor Hilton and Marilyn Hilton were very close. Here, Marilyn delights at a gift received during a baby shower hosted for her by Elizabeth (bottom right) in 1950. Marilyn was pregnant with her son, Steven, at the time.
(© 1978 Bob Willoughby/mptvimages.com)

In years to come, Marilyn would appeal to Elizabeth to give Nicky Hilton an annulment in order that he might be able to marry in the Catholic Church.
(© 1978 Bob Willoughby/mptvimages.com)

A joyous Elizabeth Taylor dances with Conrad Hilton in October of 1952 in the Cotillion Room of the Hotel Pierre in New York. The two remained friends after Elizabeth divorced Conrad’s son Nicky.
(AP Photo)

Eric was the third Hilton son to marry, on August 14, 1954, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, to Patricia Skipworth. Here, the bride and groom pose with Eric’s mother, Mary Saxon, and his dad, Conrad Hilton.
(Retro Photo)

For her daughter Francesca’s eleventh birthday, Zsa Zsa (seen here with her mother, Jolie) hosted a party requiring that boys and girls dress in formal wear. It was at this party that Zsa Zsa learned through an attorney that Conrad had suspicions about the paternity of Francesca.
(Leonard Mccombe//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

The press junkets for the opening of Conrad’s hotels were always star-studded, elaborate affairs. Money was never an object when it came to celebrating a new hotel acquisition. Here, the new Caribe Hilton pool and terrace are seen during the opening aquacade in San Juan, on December 12, 1949.
(AP Photo/Puerto Rico News Service)

July 14, 1953: An army of waiters bring forth desserts for guests at the opening of the Castellana Hilton in Madrid, the first Hilton International hotel in Europe.
(Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Conrad poses on the construction site for his new Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles on August 1, 1954.
(Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

The completed Beverly Hilton Hotel—another of Conrad’s architectural masterpieces—opened on August 10, 1955.
(Bettmann/Corbis/AP Images)

Conrad Hilton worked very closely with the leading politicians of his day to further patriotism and religious values during the Cold War. He is seen here with President Dwight Eisenhower at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on February 2, 1956. The occasion was the fourth annual prayer breakfast for members of Congress, the Cabinet, and other officials. From left to right are Hilton; Senator John Stennis, the president; Texas businessman and evangelist Howard E. Butt Jr., Senator Frank Carlson, and Senator Price Daniel.
(AP Photo)