She’s a former Tatler cover star, the great-granddaughter of the Hilton Hotels founder, one of the world’s highest-paid DJs, owner of a multi-million beauty brand and ultimate It girl. Now, Paris Hilton is due to release her memoirs on the 14 March (Paris – the Memoir, Harper Collins) - and it offers a deep dive into the life of the woman behind the glamour.
Extracts serialised in The Times give a flavour of what readers can expect when it hits bookshelves. In these extracts, she speaks openly about her experiences growing up - from clubbing as a young girl, to escaping a terrifying boarding school. Here, seven of the key takeaways from the memoirs so far.
Party dressing? Boots and ‘comfortable clothes’
Paris gives her top tips for a night out: ‘stay hydrated’, ‘stay pretty’,‘tipsy is cute’, ‘drunk is gross’, and finally she advises ‘good, sturdy platform boots’ for the night itself. She also advocates ‘comfortable clothes so you can dance all night’ (as well as easily climbing in and out of windows).
The iconic It girl shared the news on Instagram
Even Paris has been stopped at the velvet ropes
In the same extract, Paris tells of the time that she tried to smuggle her sister, Nicky Hilton, their cousin Farrah and their friend Khloé Kardashian into a nightclub, Bar One. Khloé and Farrah were ‘little middle school girls,’ she says, and goes on to describe how she made Khloé up with ‘full makeup, a long red wig, and a floppy black hat.’ She says that she told her, ‘If anyone asks you, say your name is Betsey Johnson.’ And for their cousin Farrah, they put her on top of somebody’s shoulders. Despite their best efforts, they didn’t get through the doors. ‘We put so much effort into our disguises, we were shocked when we didn’t get past the velvet rope… I didn’t like how it felt to be rejected in front of everyone. I wasn’t going to let it happen again.’
Her great escapes
Paris Hilton was sent to boarding school, which she says ‘wasn’t a lockdown, but it was surrounded by a tall fence’. Planning her escape, she explains that the fact the school was surrounded by this fence didn’t scare her, as she used to climb fences all the time when she was younger: ‘to rescue a stray Frisbee or just because it was fun.’ She also says that she ‘scaled chain-link barriers around urban rave venues and wrought-iron gates at a friend’s house. I can hop a fence.’
In conversation with the duchess, the hotel heiress revealed that she had ‘forgotten who I was’ when playing up to her media persona
She begged to be rescued from boarding school
At her lowest moment, trapped in boarding school, Paris describes how she ran away, escaping through the toilet windows and running as far as she could until she reached a pay phone. There, she called her aunt, Kyle Richards, whom she begged to rescue her — and who refused. Richards, who stars in the the Real Housewives of Beverley Hills, is Paris’s maternal aunt. Reflecting on the incident, Paris says, ‘Aunt Kyle was in her twenties when this happened. Not much older than me. We’ve never talked about it, but looking at it from her perspective, how would she not call my mom? Her big sister. My parents did what you’re supposed to do when your kid disappears – they called the police.’
Paris doesn’t go down without a fight
When Paris was put in handcuffs and flown to another boarding school, she attempted to escape. In a toilet cubicle which was being guarded, she kicked the door with both feet, toppling the guard who stood directly outside. She claims that the reason she was able to do this with such force was because of her extra-strong thigh muscles which she built up whilst clubbing: ‘Here’s the thing about dancing in a really crowded club: there’s so little room to do anything, you end up basically jumping up and down for hours, which gives you the thigh muscles of a kangaroo,’ she explains.
Grazie for the glamour, Milano!
Paris’ alter-ego
When Paris managed to escape the terrors of her boarding school, she tells of the alter-ego she created for herself, who she named ‘Amber Taylor’. Amber, Paris explains, was ‘more than a disguise; Amber was a totally different person’. She chose the name as a blend of Amber Valletta and Niki Taylor: ‘Supermodel vibes’. The character, who she describes as ‘sassy and smart’ wore mostly black, baggy skater clothes.
Her favourite ’90s TV shows
Having created her alter ego, Amber Taylor, Paris fled to Connecticut where she stayed with her friend ‘Biff’ for around 10 days. There, she talks of how she stayed in his parents’ spare room, had time to catch up on sleep, and watch ‘a lot of television: The X-Files, ER, South Park, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’ After this, her parents came to collect her from a New York diner.
