Alexis, Baron de Redé Hugo Vickers has given this lecture twice to date, once to a packed audience at Sotheby's in New York, and once to the Last Tuesday Society in London. On both occasions the audience were fascinated by a man who was a total self-creation, and who lived a life of self-imposed luxury. The Baron de Redé was born as 'Dickie' Rosenburg, the son of a banker in Liechtenstein. His mother died when he was young, his father committed suicide, as did his brother. His only sister spent most of her life in an institution. He was clever and good-looking. As the war threatened, he left for America, where in due course he fell under the protection of a Chilean squillionaire, Arturo Lopez. He was given a million dollars in 1943. This lecture explains what he did with the million dollars, illuminates the restoration of the Hotel Lambert in Paris, and the many parties given and attended. It deals with the friendships, first with Arturo Lopez and then with Marie-Hélène de Rothschild, which led to the Oriental Ball of 1969 and other extravagant parties. This is the story of a man who lived a life away from the tedious banalities of modern life, and had time to declare that one of the things he most hated in life was when a man crossed his leg, exposing a flash of pink flesh between socks and trouser leg. His memoirs, copiously illustrated, and lavishly produced, sold out in ten days.