Onassis heiress ties the knot in Brazilian fairy-tale ceremony
Just over a month before her 21st birthday, Onassis heiress Athina Roussel married Brazilian equestrian Alvaro Alfonso de Miranda Neto («Doda») in Sao Paolo last Saturday, despite the reservations of her father Thierry Roussel, who was not among the 1,300 wedding guests. Athina left behind the home where she had lived since the age of 3 after the death of her mother, Christina Onassis, with her father and his wife Gaby and their three children soon after she met her future husband in 2002 in Belgium, and dropped out of school to follow him to his own country. The flower girl at the wedding was Doda’s 6-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, the rings were exchanged by Athina’s half-sister Sandrine and she was given away by her father-in-law Ricardo. Details of the reception are unknown, since no members of the press were permitted entry. Athina has been brought up far from Greece and has made very few visits over the years, but despite the Onassis Foundation’s position of not making any personal comments on Athina’s life, well-placed sources say that the board members hope she «finds the happiness she deserves.»