Part 2 (Obituaries) - King's College - University of Cambridge

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OBITUARIES
It was in 1957, when Ali’s first period of journalistic success had begun to
decline, that he married Charlotte (née Bergsøe) from Denmark and fathered
a son named Peter.The consummate womaniser had now, temporarily, settled
down. In his youth Ali had even converted to Roman Catholicism in order to
serve penance for all the abortions that he had helped to cause.This quest for
atonement was short lived. He was beautiful and brilliant, as irresistible to his
environment as he was to himself.The marriage to Charlotte did not last long,
and was dissolved in 1960.The couple did, however, stay in close contact, even
to the end. In 1966 Ali married again, this time to the young actress Georgina
Ward.This marriage ended in divorce in 1971.
For tax reasons Ali lived in a modest home in Chateau d’Oex, Switzerland, for
many decades. But he often drove back to the rich social life in London and
to his British base, the White’s Club on St James’ Street. Even though the
contact with White’s would, like many of Ali’s relationships, sour over the
years, he did keep his membership, and the club’s postal address was always
the most reliable one for reaching him.
In the 1970s Ali experienced a second spring with his journalism. He was
contracted to write book reviews for the Times Literary Supplement and later The
Spectator. For the editors he was a good person to tackle memoirs and
biographies as he knew the majority of the royalty, politicians or fellow
socialites mentioned in the book. Ali was unsparing in his writings, which
were a balance between being hilariously funny and outright abusive.
Neither foe nor friend was safe from his pen. Editors did not only have to
battle with his baroque style, but also with the libel suits that Ali’s writing
attracted. Dame Rebecca West won a famous case against The Spectator over a
review Ali wrote of one of her books. But Ali was as well, if not even better,
versed in the dark arts of litigation as his opponents, and frequently sued
others for comments that derided him or his writings. Sometimes he was
satisfied by simply venting his emotions in long rambling letters that were
to become famous as the “Aligrams”.
Though litigious and unconcerned with propriety Ali was also a kind man. He
had no problem winning the friendship and confidence of children, and was