Institut Le Rosey - in Fiction and Popular Culture

In Fiction and Popular Culture

Due to Institut Le Rosey's widespread reputation as one of the most exclusive educational institutions in the world, the school has often been mentioned in novels, television programs, biographies, magazines, and other forms of mass media. In fiction, the school is most commonly mentioned in novels relating to the rich and famous, and usually takes the role of being the choice of education for different characters. Le Rosey has been mentioned in Judith Krantz's novels Princess Daisy (1980) and Till We Meet Again (1988), as well as in several romance novels by Karen Robards. The school is also mentioned in Answered Prayers: The Unfinished Novel (1975) by Truman Capote, Any Woman's Blues (1990) by Erica Jong, For Love Alone (1992) by Ivana Trump, and What Became of Her (2002) by Marijane Meaker. Similarly, Le Rosey is mentioned in Bret Easton Ellis' novel American Psycho (1991), as the alma mater of Evelyn Williams, who is the protagonist's fiancée for most of the novel. In a 2002 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, affluent character Martha Strick, played by Veanne Cox, says she attended Le Rosey.

In non-fiction, alumni Michael Korda and James Laughlin have written about their experiences and memories at Le Rosey. Columnist Taki Theodoracopulos has written extensively on the school and its alumni, and was in the middle of a mild controversy when in 1998 he jokingly wrote in the The Spectator that Osama bin Laden had attended Le Rosey. The story resulted in an outcry from American readers, inquiries from several magazines, and the school publicly and "vehemently" denying that bin Laden had attended Le Rosey. In 1999, Russian journalist Paul Klebnikov (murdered in 2004) wrote an exposé on Le Rosey in Forbes magazine detailing the problems the school was experiencing with its majority Russian student body.