Town & Country February 2024

1963 THE CAVALIER KING CHARLES SPANIEL According to legend, King Charles II was so enamored of his namesake breed he gave them royal privileges, granting them entry wherever they pleased. (The current Charles prefers Jack Russell terriers; it’s unclear if they have any special rights.) In their prime, King Charles spaniels also roamed the courts of queens Mary I, Charlotte, and Anne and were immortalized by Titian, Rubens, and Van Dyck. The Victorian era saw the rise of the pug, and the spaniels lost their place in the hierarchy—until the 1920s, when a group of breeders engineered a renaissance of the OG kingly dog by creating the Cavalier King Charles spaniel. By the 1960s they had risen to royal status once more, this time in America, where they brought furry joy—and…

The magazine you hold in your hands marks the first issue in our 178th year. At least two themes have been with us from the beginning: family and philanthropy. The images on this page are portraits taken by photographer Emilio Madrid backstage at our 10th annual Philanthropy Summit, held on November 2 here at Hearst Tower. It was, as it has been for a decade now, a remarkable day of thought and action, with incredible hearts and minds. Some of our speakers were returning guests, many were longtime advisors, all are now part of T&C’s history and members of our extended family. Which also happens to be the theme of T&C February 2024, the Family Issue. We begin with our cover profile of the model and aspiring filmmaker (and USC…

WHERE ARE WE GOING? Venice is never far from the cultural conversation. Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things, now dominating the awards circuit, first screened at the city’s 80th film festival. The milestone was marked by Cartier, a main sponsor for three years, with a commission from musician Solrey for the legendary Teatro la Fenice, the first effort in the maison’s new initiative to support the upcoming season at the opera house. WHAT ARE WE WEARING? The season’s signature work is Rossini’s Barbiere di Siviglia, a masterpiece with comic timing undiminished 200 years after its premiere. Count the seconds until conductor Renato Palumbo leads the orchestra in that famous overture on an evening watch set with 165 brilliant-cut diamonds, each as luminous as the many divas who have graced la Fenice’s historic…

Last fall Meryl Streep announced that she and her husband Don Gummer were separated—and, unbeknownst to all but their inner circle, had been for more than six years. This news came amid Jada Pinkett Smith’s book tour, during which she revealed that—passionate public displays of loyalty aside—she and husband Will Smith had been living separate lives since 2016. The biggest revelation of all: That it’s still possible to keep a secret. In an age when it seems as though everyone from A-listers to middle schoolers is constantly baring their souls on social media, the idea that people—even those smack in the public eye—are able to keep aspects of their lives private is something of a relief. At the same time, is discretion really still within our control, especially for those…

The rocky marriages, sibling rivalries, and family feuds fueling pop culture. “What. A. Dump.” Those are the first words Elizabeth Taylor says in the film Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Taylor’s Martha is mimicking Bette Davis, but there’s another Davis line just as apt: “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the play by Edward Albee, premiered in 1962 and shocked audiences with its frank portrayal of marriage. The story follows a long, boozy night with George and Martha, a couple living on campus at the college her father runs and where he’s an associate professor. After a party, they invite a new professor, Nick, and his wife Honey to their home for a nightcap, and things go off the rails: Secrets…

In “ many ways,” Lulu Wang says, “we are actually less tolerant of the people closest to us.” It’s a November morning, and the writer and director is speaking from her family home in Atlanta. Her own clan is about to embark on a tropical vacation to celebrate a milestone birthday of her mother’s, but it isn’t her parents or brother she’s talking about. Wang, who shot to fame thanks to her award-winning 2019 film The Farewell, about a young woman’s trip to say goodbye to her grandmother, is discussing the driving force behind her first television series, Expats, which debuts January 26 on Prime Video. Expats, which stars Nicole Kidman, Sarayu Blue, Ji-young Yoo, and Jack Huston, is based on Janice Y.K. Lee’s novel The Expatriates and follows an…