Southern Charm star Patricia Altschul reflected on her relationship with son Whitney Sudler-Smith’s father in her new memoir.
After meeting 25-year-old Lon Smith in 1962, they “moved rapidly from like to love to let’s get married,” she wrote in Eat, Drink, and Remarry: Memories from a Lifetime of Art, Class, and Southern Charm, published on Tuesday, November 11.
“It’s a Southern thing that women need to be married by the time they’re 25 or they automatically become old maids. I still had a few years before my expiration date, but I’ve always been a risk-taker,” Altschul, now 84, wrote. “I couldn’t imagine having a better husband than Lon. And if I were wrong about that, I thought, ‘Well, there’s always divorce.’”
They wed in an “intimate ceremony with no pageantry,” Altschul recalled, noting that she wore a “short peach dress and a hat with a veil.” Smith “was thrilled because it was all so easy,” she wrote.
The former couple moved in together and Altschul “insisted” that they had separate bedrooms.
“People would be happier if they did that — they’d get more sleep because bed partners frequently snore and pull at the covers,” she explained. “And sleeping in separate bedrooms is very romantic.”
Altschul and Smith welcomed Whitney — who would go on to produce and star on Southern Charm — in June 1968.
“He was an easy child. He was a pleasure. He wasn’t difficult, he didn’t have tantrums,” Altschul told Us Weekly exclusively of her son while promoting the book. “He’s been a great comfort and a joy to me all these years.”
After about 15 years of marriage, Altschul and Smith split.
In a world of over-the-top, staged proposals, Paulie Connell just delivered a masterclass in heartfelt, chaotic, and utterly perfect romance. The “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Dolores Catania is engaged, and the story of how her longtime love popped the question—in the middle of an Apple Store, with a fake PEOPLE interview as a decoy—is a tale of pure, unscripted magic.
The plan was elaborate. Dolores was told she had a PEOPLE interview for a new medication she was promoting. After getting full hair and makeup, the meeting was “canceled.” Seizing the opportunity, Paulie insisted they finally go get her new iPhone. “I kept saying, ‘Just go get it for me! Why do you need me?'” Dolores recalled. But Paulie was relentless, inventing a story about the “only one iPhone Pro Max in the area” being held for her.
At the Apple Store in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey—the very spot where they first met nearly five years ago—Paulie’s nerves began to show. “He was sweating so bad, his T-shirt was soaked, his face was beet red,” Dolores laughed. “He started saying these sweet, beautiful things to me out of nowhere and I was like, ‘Paul, are you okay?'”
As an employee led them to the exact table where their love story began, Paulie’s mind was racing. “I was so nervous, my knees where knocking,” he confessed. “I’m like, ‘What are you doing? Don’t start getting sad, you’re meant to be happy!'”
While he was trying to deliver a heartfelt speech, Dolores was still completely oblivious, even joking to the employee, “Wouldn’t it be funny if we got engaged here?”
Then, he pulled the box from his pocket. That’s when reality hit. “I immediately said yes,” Dolores gushed. The ring, a show-stopping 11-carat centerpiece from John Anthony Jewelers, was a testament to his devotion. “Go big or go home,” Dolores laughed.
This wasn’t the first ring Paulie had bought. He revealed he’d purchased a stone years ago, but after getting to know Dolores better, he realized it was the “opposite of what I got.” This new ring, which he’d had for over a year and a half, was perfect.
The proposal was a symphony of sentimental details. The date, November 10th, was the same day Dolores had moved in with him four years prior. The celebration dinner was at Rocco’s steakhouse, the site of their very first date. “There’s not a thing this guy didn’t think of,” Dolores said.
For years, Bravo fans have relentlessly asked, “When is he going to propose?” Now, they have their answer. In the most unexpected of locations, surrounded by iPhones and unsuspecting shoppers, Dolores Catania’s next chapter has officially begun. And as Paulie laughed, “I’m just glad Dolores won’t have to answer a stupid question anymore.”