A SOCIALITE who shrinks from publicity, the beautiful Uruguayan aristocrat and fixer for Hello! magazine who is said to travel the world with a Louis Vuitton suitcase full of money in search of celebrities for the magazine, Marquesa de Varela has opened the doors of her garden in her stunning rented Knightsbridge home to give her first interview. The triumph of Hello! is largely due to the normally mysterious marquesa, its marvellous hit woman. She has formidable contacts with the rich and famous and is a friend of the Duchess of York’s mother, Mrs Susan Barrantes. It was the marquesa, with her jet setting and title, who scooped the world with her 48-page special on the Duke and Duchess of York. She is famed for her exclusive though not penetrating interviews. (At Mandy Smith’s bedside, she asked: ‘Do you cry a lot?’) She never gets too personal, nor does she try to trick anyone in her interviews, nor does she put any indiscretions in print. (The only person she really wants to interview who hasn’t agreed to her request is the Pope!) The glamorous and charming marquesa has carte blanche from her publisher to fly Concorde to her interviews.

The marquesa has also shown great strength of character in the face of tragedy. She has two wrecked marriages, is said to be a social climber and may not be entitled to her title, which she should have relinquished (under Spanish law) when she divorced her husband.

Known to her friends as Naneta (a nickname from her nanny meaning ‘little girl’), her real name is Julia Marin. The marquesa, who admits to being 48, has perfect unruffled poise, cleavage, wonderful chestnut hair and looks devastatingly sexy in a Miss Selfridge dress and Portobello market jewellery.

Marquesa, you put a book on dogs and elephants on the table for our photograph. Why? ‘I hope it’ll teach people to take care of animals. I have 60 stray dogs I have collected in Uruguay. I really love them, I really suffer for them.’

In the first issue of Hello! you had an interview with the Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace. Can you tell us about that? ‘I don’t believe in writing letters to anybody important to ask for an interview. It’s much better that their friends explain what I want. Princess Anne wasn’t funny at all. The first thing I said to her when I arrived was, ‘I’ve come here to do a nice, positive, happy story.’ And she replied, ‘Well, you’ve come to the wrong place.’ It was my first time at Buckingham Palace, my first Royal, and in a different language. She wasn’t at all easy, but she is intelligent and cultured.’

IS IT true that you carry a Louis Vuitton suitcase full of money round the world? ‘No. I hate labels. I travel round the world in my leggings and American knickers.’ American knickers? ‘Yes, like Reebok.’ Ah, American sneakers. ‘Yes. What is knickers?’

You have met so many stars, you must have some interesting stories. ‘We were in Khashoggi’s boat during Ramadan when he was one of the richest men in the world. Suddenly the photographer said there was a lot of blood running down the corridor of the boat. They were killing sheep on board. I couldn’t sleep after that. I was so obsessed about the animals they were killing in the kitchen.’

The world and his wife wanted an interview with Mandy Smith. But you were the one who got it. Why? ‘I got Mandy because I have suffered a lot, really a lot with my second husband. So I could understand Mandy. She is not the blonde bimbo everyone thinks.’

Why have you given me a world exclusive with this interview? ‘I kept saying ‘no’ to everybody, but I have nothing to hide. I’m fed up with people saying I’m frivolous and a social climber. You have been lucky in getting me. You just happened to call when I was fed up with people talking about ‘the mysterious marquesa’.’

You put the rich and famous at their ease. How? ‘Because I live like them. It’s easy for me to understand their mentalities.’

How did you get the interview with the Duke and Duchess of York? ‘Luck. I was never a friend of the Prince’s. I’d only met him briefly. But I was friendly with a friend of his. Prince Andrew is the most charming man I’ve ever met and Fergie is so natural. She often says things that the Press wouldn’t believe. I’m like the diary journalists. I have to keep a lot inside me.’

You are a deeply glamorous person, marquesa. Can you tell us about that? ‘Since I was 13 I had to be glamorous because I was beautiful and I was the daughter of a rich man. I had to be frivolous as well. But deep down I’m not like that. I love my family and I try to be good with people who work. I understand how tough it is to work.’

Who are your famous friends? ‘Fergie’s mother is one of my best friends. She was staying here until yesterday when she went back to Argentina. She always stays with me when she comes to England. I’m also very good friends with the Duke of Northumberland who is very weird and goes out with Barbara Carerra. I have lunch with the Duchess of York and many dukes and duchesses.’ You have worked for Hola! (the original Spanish version of Hello!) for 11 years and have a Midas touch. But why do you still work? Why don’t you find a rich man, marry and go to live in Texas? ‘That’s what I’d ask myself if I were interviewing myself. All my friends have. They’ve all got the richest husbands. It’s easy. If you want to get married, you just do it. ‘But I was brought up in Uruguay (the Switzerland of America) and we were taught in my family never to go with men for money. Not to look for help from outside yourself, but to have pride, honesty and morals, although I’m not a Virgin Mary.’

What would put you off marriage? ‘I couldn’t marry someone if I didn’t like the way he dressed. If someone has bad taste, he has bad taste in everything. He’ll buy the worst car and we’ll disagree on everything.’ You were married first for nine years, then 11 and have since been alone for 10 years. You don’t currently have a boyfriend. How do you manage? ‘It’s difficult. I’ve been alone for years. But not for much longer now because I’ve made up my mind not to be. After my disastrous marriages, I was hurt and upset and didn’t want to know about men. I have not had a lover for years. I have my morals.’

Can you tell us about your marriages? ‘I was crazily in love with two very handsome and very destructive men. First Montenegro, then the Marques de Varela. I didn’t marry because of money. I could have married 10 times better. I was a really beautiful and successful woman. I could have married many famous names.’

You have said you suffered a lot with your husbands. ‘The marques was a very cold personality. I’m the opposite. I was crazily in love with him. But he only looked at me because I was beautiful and like another jewel that he had bought. I suffered horribly emotionally. I was always looking for love and never found it. I’ve told you things about my marriage that I’ve never told anyone.’

How did you meet the Marques de Varela? ‘He asked a friend of mine, ‘Who is the most beautiful and successful girl in Marbella this summer?’ Of course it was me. So we had a blind date. The minute I saw him, I was in love. He is so handsome, intelligent. And he knows how to command a woman.’ Is it true that you aren’t entitled to your title? ‘My husband said I could keep it. Unless I remarry, I’m the Marquesa de Varela.’ Marquesa, you live in the same jet-set way as the stars who grace the pages of Hello! How important is money to you? ‘Money is not important, I swear. But I don’t want to sound phoney. Money is important to everybody. It gives you freedom and you can buy whatever you want. In Uruguay, families depend on me. Families who used to work for my father on a farm. Each month I say I want to fire them, but I can’t do it. I’m not rich by European standards.’

You have homes all over the world. Can you tell us about them? ‘I have a small flat in Madrid and a house in Knightsbridge, but there are builders there. I have a farm in Uruguay, a new house in Montevideo and a farm in Punta del Este.’ (She phones the following day and says: ‘I own more property that I forgot about. I have a flat in Buenos Aires, another farm in Punta del Este and two flats on the port, a farm in San Jose and I’m looking for a house in Miami.’) Is it true that you were so penniless when your first marriage broke up that you lived in a Madrid boarding house? ‘No, with friends. My father said that if I wanted money, I had to come home. But I had failed in my marriages and was considered a disaster. They were always complaining about me, so why go back?’

You have three children: Bruno, 14, who is studying in Uruguay; Valeria, 21, who was one of the top models in Spain; and Natalia, 23. Can you tell us about being a mother? ‘I was a mother and stayed at home and cooked when I was married to Montenegro. I began working for Spanish television when my second marriage was finishing. Now Bruno is looked after by my mother and one of my daughters. I am in South America from December to April.’ You had your first boyfriend when you were 14, didn’t you? ‘That is right. I had lots of boyfriends. When I was 18, I had three at the same time. It was a disaster. I was terrible, I must face it. But having fun was very important to me. I always say ‘yes’ to everything. I never feel depressed.’

How have you made such wonderful friends? You have an address book second to none. ‘I met them socialising when I lived in Greenwich Village. New York is the centre of the world. I met John Kluge, already one of the richest men in America, Al Pacino, Mrs Randolph Hearst…’

You have a warrior spirit and are independent and forceful. How would you describe your character? ‘I’m strong, for self-protection, but not tough. I’m sensitive, very easily hurt. I’ve helped so many people get their positions in work and they never thank me. I’m very disillusioned about human beings.’

You also look as if you have a fiery temper and are the sort of woman one wouldn’t want as an enemy. ‘Yes, if someone crosses me, I’ll never forget. I can explode, but nothing too dangerous.’

Are you ruthless? Will you walk over people? ‘I will never betray anybody. I’ve never had a relationship with a married man if that’s meant walking over his wife. It’s different if a married man comes and says: ‘I love you…’’