Slavica Ecclestone (; born 2 June 1958) is a Croatian former model and the ex-wife of former Formula 1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone.

Early life

Ecclestone was born in Rijeka, where her

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

parents—Jovan "Jovo" Radić and Ljubica Malić from Maglajani and Riječani, respectively, both villages within the

Laktaši Laktaši ( sr-cyrl, Лакташи) is a city located in Republika Srpska, an entity of the state Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality had a population of 34,966 inhabitants, while the town has a population of 5,879 inhabita ...

municipality,

PR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

—had settled shortly before her birth in search of expanded job opportunities. The family soon moved back to northern Bosnia to her father's village, meaning Slavica would spend the majority of her childhood in Maglajani. After her parents divorced when she was seven years old, being raised by her mother Ljubica, Slavica was taught to "not do to someone else what you wouldn't want to be done to yourself."

Career

In her early career, Slavica worked as a

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

, modelling for a number of clients, including the designer

Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...

. While working on a Formula One promotional event for Armani at the

1982 Italian Grand Prix The 1982 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 12 September 1982. This was the final pole position, podium, finish, and points for 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti at this race. René Arnoux won the race. Arnoux annou ...

in Monza, the twenty-four-year-old model met fifty-two-year-old

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

chief Bernie Ecclestone. Bernie pursued Slavica despite the 28-year age difference, the language barrier (she spoke

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...

and Italian, he spoke only English), and their difference in height. At , Slavica was nearly a foot taller than her suitor, Ecclestone being tall.

Personal life

From her marriage, Slavica has two daughters, Tamara (1984) and Petra (1988). In November 2008, Slavica filed for divorce after 23 years of marriage. The divorce was granted on 11 March 2009. She ranked 194 in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

''' Rich List after she was awarded an estimated £740 million from her divorce. In December 2019, she put her

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

mansion up for sale for more than £100m after daughter Tamara's home in Kensington Palace Gardens was raided and jewels worth £50m were stolen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecclestone, Slavica 1958 births Living people Slavica Formula One people People from Rijeka Serbs of Croatia Yugoslav emigrants to the United Kingdom Racing drivers' wives and girlfriends Croatian female models