One envoy says ‘I do;’ another says ‘I don’t’

By Gail Scott

Portuguese Ambassador João de Vallera plants a deft kiss upon the hand of Hillary Rodham Clinton at the Eastern Inaugural ball at Union Station.

Diplomatic Nuptials
Saudi Arabian Ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir is a bachelor no longer! While we weren’t watching he got married to beautiful widow Farah Al-Fayez, 27, with whom he is now living (along with her six-year-old twins) in his McLean ambassadorial residence. Everything was below the radar until someone noticed that Al-Jubeir, 47, was smiling a lot more.

Another Arab ambassador who is young and quite handsome may be available again. If you were invited to the March 7 wedding, don’t worry about buying this dashing envoy a gift. The nuptials are off and no one is sure why. His staff is as shocked as the rest of us.

Inaugural Keepsakes
It’s already March, but diplomats are still trading inaugural photos of each other as if they were baseball cards. A special favorite: the one of dapper Portuguese Ambassador João de Vallera kissing the hand of not-yet-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during the Eastern Ball at Union Station. De Vallera himself captured another “the-world-is-one-place” moment of his Jordanian colleague, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, with his red native head scarf against the gorgeous blue sky.

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Angus and Sissy Yates and Dana and Timothy Rooney joined our photo shoot at the newly renovated and redubbed Fairfax Embassy Row Hotel.

This roster is neither the first, nor will it (inevitably) be the last to single out certain individuals, who, by virtue of birth, rank, wealth, or accomplishment, take part in the social life of the nation’s capital. Estimable precursors – drumroll here – include “The Green Book,” so-called for its faux green suede cover, which has appeared continuously since 1930; and The Blue Book of Washington, which ceased publication around 1990 after a century in print. The Social Register, sometimes called the “Black Book,” also contains the names of numerous prominent local figures, many hailing from so-called “blue blood” families, although its thin Washington edition was merged into a much larger 12-city national version in the 1980s.

A key difference separating Washington Life’s list from the others – apart from having no discernible color – is that we do not publish a “phone book” of addresses and contact information, schools attended, club and yacht listings, and the like. Ours is merely an alphabetical nomenclature of people who make a difference by adding immeasureably to Washington’s political, diplomatic and cultural scene. Another point of contrast is size. Compared to the thousands of entries in other directories, WL’s Social List, currently about 700 names and counting, is a relatively small effort. As far as “official Washington” is concerned, we include only a select few of the more sociable (“dining out,” as they were once so charmingly called) members of the Congress, Cabinet, and Supreme Court.

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The 13th annual record of notably social personalities from the worlds of politics, diplomacy, business, philanthropy, and the arts.

By Kevin Chaffee

John Pyles and Barbara Harrison

This roster is neither the first, nor will it (inevitably) be the last to single out certain individuals, who, by virtue of birth, rank, wealth or accomplishment, take part in the social life of the nation’s capital. Estimable precursors – drumroll here – include The Green Book,” so-called for its faux green suede cover, which has appeared continuously since 1930; and the Blue Book of Washington, D.C., which ceased publication around 1990 after a century in print. The Social Register, sometimes called the “Black Book,” also contains the names of numerous prominent local figures, many hailing from so-called “blue blood” families, although it merged its thin Washington volume into a much larger 12-city national version back in the 1980s.

A major difference separating Washington Life’s list from the others – apart from having no discernible color – is that we do not publish a “phone book” containing addresses and contact information, much less schools attended, club memberships and yacht listings. Ours is merely an alphabetical nomenclature of people who make a difference by adding immeasurably to their city, and by extension, their country and the world. Another point of contrast is size. Compared to the many thousands of entries contained in other directories past and present, WL’s Social List, currently about 700 names and counting, is relatively small. We do not see the need to include every member of the Congress, Cabinet or Court (i.e., Supreme), much less all those with top jobs listed in the “Plum Book” of political appointments.

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Saudi Arabian Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir

By John Greenya

Adel al-Jubeir doesn’t get the easy jobs. But the apparent ease with which he handles them suggests that the still-new Saudi Arabian ambassador, having shown he can operate in the spotlight, is equally effective and relaxed away from the glare in his new role as his country’s point man in Washington.

When it was learned that 15 of the 19 terrorists responsible for 9/11 were Saudi Arabian nationals, al-Jubeir, then-foreign affairs advisor to the then-Crown Prince, now King Abdullah, had the unenviable job of convincing Americans that their best friends in the Middle East had not turned against them. Almost overnight, he seemed to be everywhere, being interviewed on television by Charlie Rose and then Wolf Blitzer, among others, and giving interviews to the leading print media.

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WL’s highly anticipated list of those we consider are the future leaders of Washington.

Left to right: Michelle and Adrian Fenty, Kirsten Pollin, Joel Limmerick and Katie Rost, Philippe Cousteau, and Mae Haney Grennan and Michelle Haney Maddux.

Since its debut two years ago, the release of The Young & The Guest List annually creates quite a buzz. The issue sells out in three-days, we receive lengthy nomination letters and last year, several tried to crash our party. We become just as excited about this issue, because it seems this is the only time the spotlight is brightly shined on the under forty set whose formidable accomplishments including best-selling books, multi-million dollar companies, congressional seats and mayorships sometimes go without their deserved fanfare.

Each year, we sit down with a committee to compile a list of 150 members who significantly contribute to the vibrancy of city. More often their names are unknown: are sometimes overshadowed by their boss (these range from the President to financial heavyweight David Rubenstein), perhaps they rarely go out because their writing groundbreaking State policy on Africa or maybe they are helping to securing an election for their candidate. Make no doubt though, these are the future faces of Washington, who behind the scenes are an integral part of making this country work. Listees range from the president of the Corcoran 1869 Society to our very own Mayor and his wife, to award-winning filmmakers and authors. For the third time, we present The Young & The Guest List.

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The 16th Annual Record of the Washington Social Scene.

Deborah and Curtin Winsor III, Kathy Kemper and Jim Valentine, and Francis Colt de Wolf III and his wife Nathalie de Wolf, stroll the iconic Peacock Alley in the Willard InterContinental Washington while enjoying a few fine flutes of bubbly off the champagne cart. Photo by Clay Blackmore

“A beautiful summer week-end with a few dear friends at our farm in Middleburg.” – Roger and Vicki Sant

“I enjoyed listening to my friend Rima at her baby shower talk about how much fun it was being pregnant, she was enjoying all the attention her husband was giving her and would miss that after she gives birth.” – Irene Pollin

“My favorite social event of 2007 was Marvin Hamlish’s birthday party – lots of laughter and music provided by Marvin and good conversation – a very fun, totally wonderful dinner in Marvin’s honor. It was great to hear him play his own birthday song!” - Ann Hand

“One of our favorite memories of 2007 was the Harman Center for the Arts opening event. The evening was all about enlightenment and enchantment.” – Huda and Samia Farouki

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