While Reggiani and Gucci were madly in love when they married in their 20s, the flame extinguished by their late 30s. Their disagreements were in part about money and power — or the lack of it, according to Reggiani.
Gucci and Reggiani first met when they were both in their early 20s, when they encountered each other at a debutante party in November 1970. Even though the fashion house heir later claimed it was “love at first sight”, his family was less than thrilled about his newfound love.
Patrizia instantly recognized Maurizio. She was also friends with Orlando, who had described the Gucci successor to her the previous night. Maurizio made the first move after exclaiming to a friend that Patrizia looked like Elizabeth Taylor. A love affair ensued.
Reggiani and her two daughters have had a complicated relationship ever since she was convicted in a heavily publicized trial in 1998. Originally sentenced to 29 years, she was released on good behavior after serving 18 years in 2016.
Maurizio Gucci, the grandson of the company's founder, Guccio Gucci, met Patrizia Reggiani at a party in 1970 when she was 23. They married in 1972 and moved to New York that same year so that Maurizio, then 24, could work with his uncle and chairman of the company, Aldo Gucci (Al Pacino in the film).
While they were still together, Maurizio had a yearslong affair with a woman named Sheree McLaughlin, which, in part, prompted to him leave Reggiani. Allegedly, Maurizio packed his bags, told Reggiani he was going on a business trip, and never returned.
Maurizio and Patrizia got married in 1972, after two years of courtship, but the union caused a rift in the family. Maurizio's father, Rodolfo, did not approve of Reggiani's social background and believed she was a social climber and opted not to attend the couple's wedding.
The short answer is, allegedly, no. Though the sisters were extremely close to their mother throughout childhood, over the years, their relationship has taken a turn for the worse. In a 2016 interview, Reggiani revealed that her daughters cut ties with her entirely.
No, Paola Franchi did not inherit money, but she has certainly become a very successful businesswoman in her own right. Franchi is an Italian entrepreneur and fashion designer who started out as a small shop manager in the late 1950s.
Women's Roles in Gucci
In reality, Guccio Gucci had five sons and one daughter named Grimalda. Grimalda spent years working for Gucci; however, upon her father's death all of her brothers were given a share of the Gucci inheritance, and she was left out.
After Aldo was imprisoned for tax evasion, Maurizio succeeded in taking control of the company. But by 1993, Maurizio had racked up serious debts from overspending and was forced to sell his 50 per cent stake in the company to investors, which put an end to the Gucci family's ownership of the company.
It wasn't until nearly two years later in 1997 that an anonymous tip pointed to Ivano Savioni, a hotel porter, who had been contacted by Reggiani's personal psychic Guiseppina Auriemma to help her hire hitman Benedetto Ceraulo and getaway car driver Orazio Cicala.
Investcorp bought the remaining 50% of Guccio Gucci S.p.A. from Maurizio Gucci in 1993, ending the family involvement in the group. In March 1995, Maurizio Gucci was shot dead in the lobby of Gucci's Milan office.
According to Meaww, Alessandra and Allegra Gucci are worth $400 million after the death of their father, who was worth around the same amount when he died. The daughters were given control of their father's estate after their mother was found guilty of his murder in 1997.
She's married and lives in Switzerland
Alessandra and Allegra both live in Switzerland along with their partners and children. The pair inherited homes in New York, Saint Moritz and Milan, according to Style Caster.
In 1986, Aldo was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for tax evasion. In 1987, Paolo sold all his shares in Gucci to Investcorp for $42.5 million. Due to spending extravagant amounts of money and bad business decisions, he filed for bankruptcy in 1993.
The richest member of the Gucci family is John Paul “Paolo” Gucci, the grandson of the company's founder. He inherited a 33 percent stake in the glamorous fashion house from his father Aldo in 1983. He is now worth around $13 billion, making him one of the world's wealthiest people.
Reggiani claimed she had no idea Auriemma had gone and found a killer, and that she was blackmailed into agreeing to pay 600 million lire (the equivalent of $365,000) for the assassination, starting with a down payment of 150 million lire.
Maurizio Gucci was blamed for spending extravagantly on the company's headquarters in Florence and Milan. He went on to sell his remaining company stock in 1993 for $170 million to Investcorp, ending the Gucci family's association with the company.
Aldo Gucci died in Rome at the age of 84 of prostate cancer, on 19 January 1990. He was buried in the family mausoleum in Florence.
The short answer is: yes. Although how much of it will be fictionalized remains to be seen, Maurizio Gucci and Patrizia Reggiani were both real people—and Patrizia, now in her 70s, is still alive today. But the twists and turns of their relationship are nothing short of shocking.
Reggiani and four accomplices were convicted of murder after a five-month-long trial in 1998. Born in the northern city of Vignola in humble circumstances, she and Maurizio Gucci were both 24 years old when they married in 1973—despite his father Rodolfo Gucci's concerns.
She wants to become a nun, but she gives this idea up and marries Pedrito at age sixteen.