A terrifying incident shook the world of Audrey Hepburn, leaving her afraid for her family. What followed was a long line of misunderstandings that led to a shocking revelation ages later.
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Add BollywoodShaadis on GoogleAudrey Hepburn was left petrified for her family's well-being after a terrifying incident that shook her world in 1975. For the unversed, Hepburn's second husband, Andrea Dotti, was nearly kidnapped from their family home, and the incident had left the actress completely shaken. Recently, Hepburn's elder son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer, reflected on what happened and how the actress made some stern steps to ensure her kids' safety.
Sean Hepburn Ferrer recalls an incident where his stepfather, Andrea Dotti, was nearly kidnapped from the family home. According to reports, he and Audrey Hepburn were married from 1969 to 1982, with the actress previously having been married to Mel Ferrer, Sean's father, from 1954 to 1968.
Sean shared an incident as part of Intimate Audrey: An Authorized Biography, coauthored by Wendy Holden. In the biography, he recalled having lunch with his mother when Andrea Dotti burst into the room, bleeding from his head. Sean recalled:
"He was very shaken and told us that four masked men had jumped on him as he was leaving practice and tried to drag him into a waiting Mercedes. When he fought back, they pistol-whipped him, but he escaped from their grip and crawled under a parked car, where he created such a disturbance that nearby security guards came to his rescue."
The story left Audrey Hepburn petrified and insisted her husband, Andrea Dotti, go to a hospital and get his injuries checked. Sean recalled the actress was "trembling with fear," as at the time, heinous kidnappings were on the rise internationally. He noted, "It isn't too dramatic to say she was traumatized."
The following day, Audrey sat down with Sean to talk about what happened. The actress, concerned for her child's safety, gave him two choices: one where he stayed in Rome but was followed by bodyguards constantly, or second, where he went away to boarding school in Switzerland, where he'd be in a "secure environment" but have more personal freedom.
Before coming to a choice of his own, Sean recalled he asked her which made her more comfortable. Audrey admitted the boarding school, though she struggled with the idea of not seeing each other regularly. Noting he left just three days later without an opportunity to bid his school or his friends farewell, Sean said:
"She and I had always been inseparable, and I was heartbroken at the thought of leaving her, but I also couldn't bear to see her so worried, so I did as she asked and gave up my entire life, school friends, soccer, and the Roman dolce vita."
Ridden with guilt about Sean's entire life being shifted to a different country, Audrey offered to pay for one of his friends to attend the school, but the boy's mother was unwilling to part with him. Despite the fact that the children of other celebrities, such as Elizabeth Taylor and David Niven, attended the school, the actress often felt the guilt laying heavy on her chest.
However, the truth behind the kidnapping was revealed years later. The mother and son learned that no one was trying to kidnap Andrea. Rather, a man was trying to avenge the fact that Andrea was having an affair with his wife. He stated:
"An unhappy husband had found out Andrea was having a fling with his wife and sent the masked men to beat him up. So it was a direct consequence of my stepfather's infidelity that I was sent away from my mother and lost four years of family life. That was something I found terribly difficult to forgive."
What are your thoughts on Sean Ferrer's recollection of what happened?
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