Billionaire heiress Ivy Getty may seem like your typical poor rich girl — especially now. she filed for divorce It’s been just over two years since her extravagant three-day wedding to Tobias Engel in San Francisco.
However, while the 26-year-old model may be living in the shadows of the public eye, “The Getty Curse”” Friends and people familiar with the family say the split is not the result of deaths, infidelity or addictions that have long plagued the oil dynasty.
Rather, they say, her marriage to Engel was a reaction from the near-simultaneous deaths of her drug-induced father and the maternal grandmother who raised her during the pandemic, and not a self-defeating decision. claims.
She secretly married a British-Austrian photographer she met at Paris Fashion Week in December 2020, and tied the knot again in public in November 2021.
“Tobias was very kind to her and to others, but you didn’t sense a lot of passion there. They could almost have been brothers,” a source told the Post.
Getty posed with Emily Ratajkowski and Nicky Hilton Rothschild at Save Venice’s Ann Vallo in Maschera Gala at New York’s Plaza Hotel last week, just as news of their divorce broke. It was around the time I was out. A few days earlier, she had attended a party in London.
“Ivy grew up in a very strange situation, being raised by her grandparents in that huge mansion, and I think she was very lonely,” a San Francisco socialite who knew the Getty family well told the Post.
“But Ivy herself is lovely and has wonderful friends. She has no connection to the drug scene and neither do her friends.
“But I think she was looking for a replacement family when she decided to marry Toby, having lost both her father and grandmother to the pandemic.
“Then the world opened up again and she seemed determined to move on.”
Ivy’s musician father, John Gilbert Getty, 52, died in a San Antonio hotel room on November 20, 2020 from heart disease triggered by an accidental fentanyl overdose. Ta.
Ivy’s grandmother, Anne Getty, who raised her at the Getty mansion where her wedding reception was held, died at the age of 79, two months before her own son died.
Ivy was raised by Anne and her husband Gordon Getty, now 90, in Los Angeles with their three daughters and a second family from almost the time of her birth, as her father was incapable of caring for her. He was famously raised by
Ivy’s San Francisco-based mother, Alyssa Boothby, a self-described jewelry designer, hasn’t been with Ivy’s father for a long time, but sources told the Post that Anne and Gordon Getty are together. She said she hurriedly moved to raise her infant child.
Boothby attended Ivy’s wedding, and although Ivy has praised both Boothby and her father on her Instagram account, Alyssa says Alyssa was not an important figure in her life. .
Getty filed for divorce in New York in January, and Engel responded by contesting it on March 25.
However, sources told Page Six that the couple had a prenuptial agreement in place to protect her famous family’s vast assets.
“Clearly, as a member of the Getty family, Ivey is wary of any legal ramifications,” the source said.
Their 2021 wedding was officiated by Nancy Pelosi and featured in Vogue magazine.
Attendees included singer Olivia Rodrigo, Princess Olympia of Greece, California Governor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, and Ivy’s maid of honor and “The Queen’s Gambit” star Anya Taylor-Joy. It was. The pre-wedding party was a 60s mod themed party, with Mark Ronson as DJ and Earth, Wind & Fire performing.
After the wedding, the two returned to work as photographers and models, but were rarely seen together.
“She was always out in New York and London, and press photos of her… He wasn’t in the picture.”
“I think she felt a little lost during the pandemic and was looking for someone to start her life with, but it’s clear that it wasn’t meant to last.”
But Reginato agreed with others that Ivy doesn’t seem to have inherited the gene for Getty’s tragedy, although others in her family seem to have carried it to some extent. .
Ivey’s great-grandfather was J. Paul Getty, the Minnesota-born founder of Getty Oil and the richest man in the world in the mid-20th century, with a fortune of $1.2 billion (approximately $9.1 billion today) Met.
He has about 40 descendants, many of whom have suffered great drama and misfortune over the decades.
In 1973, the Patriarch’s 16-year-old grandson (Ivy’s second cousin) John Paul Getty III was kidnapped in Rome.
The kidnappers demanded $17 million, but the grandfather wouldn’t pay, so they cut off his right ear and the grandfather handed over the cash as a loan to his son.
This ordeal, combined with severe neglect, ruined the boy’s life. He was only 24 years old and suffered from paralysis as a result of his drug overdose. John Paul III, father of actor Balthazar Getty, died in 2011 at the age of 55.
In 2015, Ivy Getty’s uncle, Andrew Rourke Getty, died from bleeding from an ulcer. Andrew had lived a reclusive life and it was discovered that he had methamphetamine in his system at the time of his death.
Reginato also pointed out that while the Getty family’s personal catastrophes have grabbed the headlines, the younger generation of the Getty family, including Ivey, includes many highly successful people.
“There are four different branches of the Getty family,” Reginato said. “J. Paul Getty had five sons, four of whom were living. All four boys went in completely different directions.
“Today, the country is an international dynasty consisting of 19 grandchildren (16 of whom are still alive) and approximately 45 great-grandchildren living on four continents: Asia, Europe, the United States, and Africa.
“In fact, they are an incredibly private family, very philanthropic and successful, but we only hear about families that end in tragedy.”
Among them are Getty Images co-founder Mark Getty, 63, environmental activist Anne G. Earhart, 72, and the fashion designer who has created dresses for everyone from Cher to Katy Perry. This includes August Williams (29).
August’s brother Nats (also an LGBTQ rights activist who announced his gender transition after marrying transgender celebrity Gigi Gorgeous) has a line of high-end streetwear.
Getty’s cousins include actor, director, and DJ Balthazar Getty (49 years old), multi-tasking actor, director, DJ, and designer Isabelle, and singer/songwriter and internet influencer Isabelle Getty (30 years old). It is included.
Ivy’s friends hope she follows in the footsteps of her high-achieving relatives, rather than those who met their fate.
she Currently affiliated with Ford Models.
“We wish her every success in her modeling career,” a family source said. “I think she’s going to get a lot of respect because her accomplishments are her own, not something she bought for herself.
“When you’re burdened with a legacy like that, it can be hard to find your place in life and it can be hard to really know who your friends are.
“But I think she’s trying to establish her own identity in the world. It might seem strange to call off a wedding after having such a big one, but Rich people are different from you and me.”
