Charlie's angel used to first-class treatmentBy Jose Lambiet
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Gov. Charlie Crist even has the blessing of the man his gal pal recently divorced!
"Go, Carole, go," said Manhattan private-jet service owner Todd Rome, when asked how he felt about ex-wife Carole Rome being hot 'n' heavy with a possible vice presidential candidate.
AP
Carole Rome, 38, and Gov. Charlie Crist recently returned from John McCain's ranch.
And while the guv has been professing his love for the 38-year-old N.Y.-Miami socialite, the lovebirds put on quite a show at a Manhattan fund-raiser last week.
I'm told Carole and Charlie formed the perfect couple - her shapely body barely wrapped in a Florida-orange Dolce & Gabbana backless number as she stayed glued to the super-tanned Crist for most of the night. They'd just returned from a trip to Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's Arizona ranch alongside other potential running mates.
"Both Carole and Charlie are good people," said Todd Rome, 38. "If they're in love, then they should do the right thing and be happy. Carole and I will stay good friends. We settled the divorce amicably a long time ago."
Well, not so long ago: May 16 in Miami and March 14 in NYC, according to court records in both cities. The two had filed separately - she in Florida, two weeks before she met Crist last September.
Even with Carole and Charlie an item throughout their divorce, Todd says he'll support her all the way to Washington - should fate take her there.
While some things about Carole Rome have been known - Page Two revealed last year her part ownership of a 100-year-old family business that sells costumes similar to Tom Cruise's would-be swinger in Eyes Wide Shut - a not-so-populist image of the lady emerged from divorce records.
If you believe several filings, Carole, who has two teenage daughters from her 15-year marriage, likes to be treated like a princess. In her Miami divorce petition, she wrote that she's always had a chauffeur, nannies for the children and second homes. Because she wanted the same lifestyle post-marriage, she asked for alimony - even if records show she made $1.4 million in 2004 while her hubby made only $900,000 in 2006.
In one document, Todd blasted Carole for uprooting their girls out of NYC without his consent and moving to a $2.3 million condo on Fisher Island in Miami Beach.
Then she, the NYC-based Todd claims, lured him south under the pretense of fixing their marriage but served him with divorce papers instead.
Giving credence to what was rumored to have caused the divorce, Todd complained in court about Carole's spending habits and her tendency to flip expensive homes at a record pace.
The couple lived in five apartments and three single-family houses in a two-year period, last owning a $6 million brownstone in Manhattan and a 10,000-square-foot, $14 million mansion in Southampton, N.Y.
Todd's lawyers told a New York judge that shortly after moving into their newest Manhattan townhouse, Carole had the family stay at the nearby Regency luxury hotel because she didn't like the it.
Miami-Dade County records show Carole, who didn't return calls, recently traded in her Fisher Island condo for another twice the price nearby.
So, how far will that $133,000 governor's salary stretch, Charlie? Not as far as Dick Cheney's $221,100!
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