queen of versailles

[germyrabbit]

did anyone see this documentary? only caught the first 20 minutes but cannot wait to see it all! what did you think?

We watched just over half of it.
It's v interesting. The husband is clearly an egomaniac- he seems more put out at losing his influence than concerned about all the staff he's having to lay off.

She's rather more endearing. But considering how mind boggingly loaded they are it's incredible how cheap she manages to look.

They have 7 children who live in complete chaos- they were some rather upsetting scenes of pets (lizards, fish) literally being left to die, dogs are running around eating mess of the floor... You'd think with that amount of cash they would have enough staff to keep an eye on the house and its content.
Their 'Versailles' was hilariously gloriously tacky. They had 5 million dollars of marble- meant for a ballroom, packed up in crates, as well as a storage facility filled with 'antiques' none of which were remotely style-appropriate to the house they were constructing.

have to agree with your comments anon, i felt really sorry for jacky, she's an intelligent woman, i couldn't live in ignorance regards to their situation like she did, but can understand how easy it must be.

was totally fascinating but agree about the poor pets, wonder why one of the 7 nannies didn't notice that poor lizard

I was amazed at how cheap they managed to all look considering how loaded they were.

He seemed to be a very uninterested father and this was his third family. I thought it was interesting what his grown up son said about him.

and the animal crap everywhere, it's mind boggling isn't it. the more money you have the less you care about your surroundings it seemed. i really did warm to jackie though, he should credit her with the intelligence she has.

was wondering if there were going to do a kardashian type programme following this. though as a standalone film it is a superb capture of the times.

Clayhead I forgot about the adult son! I felt so sorry for his mother. She was left by arsehole father, had to raise her kids with no money but when her teenage son got the opportunity to go and live with his rich father he jumped at the chance! Not much loyalty to the mother who raised him. I guess it was poetic justice that his stepmother kicked him out a year later.

The part about his father being a boss rather than a dad- sad but telling.

i really liked this! went into a totally different direction than i thought it would.
i really warmed to jackie. and good on the daughter for going into the dad to let him know how his behavior was affecting them all. I was a bit when she saying how she wished her mother would stand up for herself and not let him treat her like a doormat.
the dad started quite likeable but ended up quite nasty, selfish, controlling and obsessed with money.
The older son is obviously desperately trying to get his father's approval, love and respect.

When was this on please? I really want to see it!

It was on BBC4 about a week ago. I checked and it's on BBC Iplayer right now. It's part of the Storyville set of documentaries.

Ooh thanks anonacfr I appreciate that. Going to watch on the I-pad later, tucked up in bed!

Just watched the whole thing on iplayer. Amazing. Apparently David Siegel is now suing the filmmaker: articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-02-28/news/os-david-siegel-life-story-lawsuit-20130228_1_time-share-mogul-life-story-david-siegel