Cristina Ford

Maria Cristina Vettore Austin Ford (née Vettore; 24 June 1929 – 25 December 2008) was an Italian socialite and the second wife of Henry Ford II, the chief executive officer of the Ford Motor Company.

Biography Maria was born on 24 June 1929, in Grancona near Vicenza, Italy, and educated in Milan. Her father was Edoardo Vettore of Milan, who died when she was a child. Her mother was Lavina Ferron.

First marriage Cristina first married Robin Willoughby Merivale Austin (married on 20 August 1946), a Canadian from Montreal serving in the British Royal Navy. They divorced in Quebec, Canada in 1955.

Second marriage Cristina met Henry Ford II in 1960 during a party at Maxim's in Paris. She became Ford's second wife on 19 February 1965. In 1975, Henry Ford II reportedly had an affair with model Kathy DuRoss, who would later become his third wife. In 1976, after eleven years of marriage, Henry Ford II and Cristina Ford ended the marriage, with Cristina receiving US$16 million . In 1988, Cristina Ford filed a suit against Henry Ford II's estate seeking an expanded alimony claim worth an additional US$5 million.

Friendships She was a friend of former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, the wife of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. The two women, as documented in a Filipino newsreel of Imelda Marcos' official visit to Iran to represent President Marcos at the 2500th Persian monarchy celebrations in October 1971, shared her assigned royal encampment tent (for which Mrs Marcos received personal permission from Queen Farah Pahlavi to do so) so that Mrs Ford could stay with her during the event rather than at a hotel in the city of Shiraz.

Death Cristina Ford died in Rome on Christmas Day 2008.