Titanic romance with echoes of Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio
A romance aboard the Titanic with echoes of the screen affair has been disclosed by a survivor's relative.
Joanna Wood said the love story involved her great aunt, Roberta Maioni, who was a maid travelling first class on the Titanic's maiden voyage in 1912, and a young ship's steward who died as the liner sank.
During the voyage, 21-year-old Roberta is believed to have fallen in love with the young employee and when the Titanic struck an iceberg he gave her his lifejacket and helped her into a lifeboat.
As a final gesture he pressed his White Star brooch into Roberta's hand, leaving her with a lasting memento. In the film version, directed by James Cameron, DiCaprio's character leaves his lover with a necklace before dying.
Roberta and her employer, Countess Lucy Rothes, were among those rescued by a nearby ship, Carpathia, and they travelled on to New York.
Her story was published in a newspaper in the 1920s, which her great niece believes may have helped inspire the fictional affair in the film, although other affairs have been suggested as the source.
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
Joanna Wood said the love story involved her great aunt, Roberta Maioni, who was a maid travelling first class on the Titanic's maiden voyage in 1912, and a young ship's steward who died as the liner sank.
During the voyage, 21-year-old Roberta is believed to have fallen in love with the young employee and when the Titanic struck an iceberg he gave her his lifejacket and helped her into a lifeboat.
As a final gesture he pressed his White Star brooch into Roberta's hand, leaving her with a lasting memento. In the film version, directed by James Cameron, DiCaprio's character leaves his lover with a necklace before dying.
Roberta and her employer, Countess Lucy Rothes, were among those rescued by a nearby ship, Carpathia, and they travelled on to New York.
Her story was published in a newspaper in the 1920s, which her great niece believes may have helped inspire the fictional affair in the film, although other affairs have been suggested as the source.