When America's richest and most beautiful women trusted acid-penned Truman Capote with their most intimate secrets, he exposed every salacious detail. But PETRONELLA WYATT heard the stories first hand - so what really happened?

It was a gimlet-soaked August night when I first met Princess Lee Radziwill, younger sister of Jackie Kennedy. I was staying in a hotel in Italy , a lovely rustic place which sloped down to the sea.