Anna's no match for Oxford
Anna's no match for Oxford | Mail Online
Last updated at 9:00 AM on 13th May 2009
Diva demands: Anna Kournikova
When the Oxford Union asked former tennis star and model Anna Kournikova if she would speak at their Summer Ball they were delighted when the stunning, if petulant, Russian blonde agreed.
But delight turned to despair after the 27-year-old's 'demands' for attending were received by student organisers.
For I can reveal that her 'fee' for accommodation, chauffeur-driven cars for her and her two assistants and first-class flights would cost more than £2,500.
Now the Union has ruled out hosting the woman dubbed 'Costly Kournikova'. They are looking for another speaker when they hold their £39-a-head Garden of Eden Ball later this month.
Kournikova, who lives with millionaire singer Enrique Iglesias in Miami, may have been unaware that many celebrities traditionally speak at the Union for nothing more than the promise of a free dinner and drinks.
Last week the guest speaker, Hollywood star Martin Sheen, waived his fee - but the Union agreed to pay £1,400 for his air travel from Los Angeles.
Every year, the Union budgets around £4,000 for 20 speakers a term, but Kournikova's demands shocked students. 'Her demands were like some diva's,' one student tells me.
'She knew it was a student event she had been invited to, then said she would have to charge expenses like she was opening a new resort for Donald Trump.
'You could almost understand travelling with one assistant - but two? That is just ridiculous.'
Last year, former men's tennis player Justin Gimelstob aimed a volley of abuse at Kournikova. Asked if he found her attractive, he told a U.S. radio show: 'I have no attraction to her because she's such a douche.'
Oxford Union president Corey Dixon says: 'The estimate of the costs of Miss Kournikova's visit to the Union was in excess of £2,500. We felt that it would be fiscally irresponsible to spend this amount on a single event.'
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