And yet Aristotle Socrates Onassis – who craved to be seen in the right company and for whom appearances were everything – was not as solicitous about his guests’ privacy as they would have liked. Churchill accepted his first lunch aboard the yacht in 1956 on condition that there would be no press. When the old statesman arrived at the port of Monte Carlo, Ari strutted down the gangplank to greet him while photographers recorded the event as if it were a meeting of old friends.