Marilyn, Olivier and ‘The Secret Life of the Savoy’

Marilyn graces the cover of The Secret Life of the Savoy, Olivia Williams’ new book about the history of one of London’s most exclusive hotels, due out on September 6th. Marilyn is shown in a tête-à-tête with Sir Laurence Olivier, her co-star in The Prince and the Showgirl, during a press conference in the Savoy’s Lancaster Ballroom on July 15, 1956, the day after her arrival in England – and probably the last time the famously mismatched pair were quite so friendly. “She was photographed drinking tea wearing a dress with a transparent midriff, considered extremely daring for the time,” Williams writes in the Daily Mail.