What Did Truman Capote Write About the Swans in “La Côte Basque, 1965”?
Slim Keith, then Lady Keith of Castleacre, inspired the character of “Lady Ina Coolbirth,” a “big breezy peppy broad” who, meeting Capote’s stand-in “P.B. Jones” for lunch at La Côte Basque (a real Manhattan establishment), orders a meal that will take awhile to prepare, the better to get drunk on Cristal champagne while they’re waiting.
Ina tells P.B. she’s on her way to Mexico to get a divorce and, while she admittedly must have a man in her life, she can also see why “a woman my age” would settle down with another woman for the “comfort and admiration.”
Ann Woodward, as “Ann Hopkins,” got the brunt of the nastiness: Lady Ina calls her a “tramp” and a “murderess,” being positive, despite his death having been ruled an accident, that she had killed her husband “with malice aforethought.” And she goes on about it.
Meanwhile, P.B. describes Lee Radziwill (using her real name) as a “perfect” specimen, and Lady Ina compares her favorably to her enigmatic older sister.