''Dancing Hare'' (formerly ''Lady Ghislaine'' and ''Lady Mona K'') is a superyacht built by Amels in 1986. Built for

Emad Khashoggi Emad Khashoggi ( ar, عماد خاشقجي, born 25 March 1968) is a French-Saudi businessman and the head of COGEMAD. He initiated the Château Louis XIV development project in Louveciennes, France. Biography Emad Khashoggi was born in Leban ...

, it was then purchased, also in 1986, by Robert Maxwell, who died by drowning while cruising on the yacht off the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. It was then owned by an Arabian businessman who sold it in 2017. The new owner, Anna Murdoch, had it refitted and renamed ''Dancing Hare''.

Design

Built in 1986 for

by Amels of Makkum, Netherlands, it was the first of series of

Jon Bannenberg Jon Bannenberg, RDI (1929 – 26 May 2002) was an Australian-English yacht designer. Biography Bannenberg was born in Sydney, Australia, and educated at Canterbury Boys High School and later at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. In the earl ...

-designed super yachts. The yacht exterior includes a flared bow, lozenge-shaped ports, vertical windows and mullions and a sculpted mast complex.

Robert Maxwell

Khashoggi, also developer of the

Château Louis XIV The Château Louis XIV is a château constructed between 2008 and 2011 in the commune of Louveciennes in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region. The chateau was built by the property developer Emad Khashoggi's property development ...

and the Palais Rose, abandoned the project for the yacht and in 1986 sold the vessel to Robert Maxwell who named it ''Lady Ghislaine'' after his daughter Ghislaine. In 1991, it was the base for Maxwell in New York City, moored on the East River as he negotiated with the unions over his purchase of the ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

''.

Maxwell's death

On 5 November 1991, at the age of 68, Maxwell was on board ''Lady Ghislaine'', which was cruising off the

. Maxwell's body was subsequently found floating in the Atlantic Ocean. He was later buried in Jerusalem. The official verdict was accidental drowning, though some commentators have surmised that he may have committed suicide or been murdered.

Subsequent owners

After Maxwell's death the yacht was purchased by an Arabian businessman, who sold her in 2017 to Anna Murdoch, at one time the wife of Rupert Murdoch. It was only after the sale the new owner discovered the yacht had previously been owned by Maxwell. After a refit at the Balk Shipyard in Urk, Netherlands, over the winter, the vessel was renamed ''Dancing Hare'' in May 2018.

References

{{reflist

External links