Those who thought Anna Wintour’s prospects of an ambassadorial post had fallen off the edge of the catwalk, think again. The US government still hasn’t filled the London post and is now having a headache over who will take Paris.
The London post has been up for grabs for six months. American Vogue editor Wintour had thrown fundraisers for President Obama, the American way to win favour for these jobs, but businessman Matthew Barzun now seems to be the frontrunner.
However, while previous ambassador to the Court of St James Louis Susman has just left, Barzun still hasn’t been appointed. Meanwhile, the Paris post seemed to be going to Marc Lasry, a hedge-fund billionaire, but he withdrew at the end of last week after a money-laundering scandal involving people he played poker with threatened to undermine any announcement.
The New York Post now says Wintour is back in the running for France, despite being given a promotion by Condé Nast in March as its artistic director, a new role specially created for her. Sacre bleu.
Last week a US embassy spokesman in London told me: “We’ve had no word yet on when the new ambassador will be announced but we expect whoever he or she is to arrive by August or September.” What a jolly game of musical chairs.
