LOVE, diamonds, and a 35-year age gap — Lady Betty Grafstein and Jose Castelo Branco are living the millionaire lifestyle.
With Betty previously having been married to Albert Grafstein, of the Grafstein Diamond Corporation, and José having been previously married as well, the two have blended their family.
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Now situated in the swanky Upper East Side of Manhattan, the spark between the two clearly hasn’t dimmed after 27 years of marriage.
Surrounded by finery, from leopard skin rugs to commissioned artwork, each with a unique backstory, the couple exclusively sat down with The U.S. Sun in their luxury apartment – to recount their love story.
SHE’S A LADY
Betty, 95, had her royal title from birth, being descended from a Lady in Waiting of the Queen of England.
Escaping the horrors of World War II and coming to the United States at age 14, Betty learned that she was adopted.
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“I only found out when I came to America in 1947, when I went to get my birth certificate and it said on there that I was adopted, National Adoption Society,” she said.
“I didn’t want anybody to know because my mother and father were so fantastic to me and I loved them so much, so I never did want to change [my name],” Betty said.
“I never, ever to this day worried about it ever.”
BORN TO STAND OUT
The pair are so recognizable for their opulent look, they cannot walk the streets without fans stopping them for a photograph.
“We are very grateful we have people who really like us,” said José, who’s nearly 60. “Because I love people.”
“I love people as well,” Betty chimed in.
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Betty’s high profile has led to people speculating her personal life, including net worth.
Many websites circulating the internet cite a billionaire status for the diamond heiress.
“They always exaggerate everything,” she said of the rumors, keep tight-lipped about the actual size of her fortune.
“But I never said anything. So people make things up.”
BETWEEN DESTINY AND FATE
Despite the significant age gap, the synchronicity between the two is a testament to their love.
The couple formally met at a dinner hosted by artist and mutual friend, Júlio Quaresma.
After arriving early to the affair, José and Betty found themselves the only ones seated at the table.
“I came, we started to chat, and we started to have a lot of chemistry right away,” he said.
Betty invited José to the 50th anniversary of the United Nations for lunch, which nearly didn’t happen due to overbooked hotels in New York City.
The situation was mitigated when Betty made a quick call to a friend — the Sultan of Brunei — who owned a hotel in the city and found a room for José.
“That was the beginning of the end,” he said. “Then we started to become very, very close.”
After visiting one another between Portugal and the United States, the lovebirds realized their profound connection.
“We became so, so, so close. Until one day, Betty told me: ‘We can’t be we can’t be separate anymore,'” José added.
JUST A NUMBER
The age gap between the two was not revealed until they tied the knot in 1996.
“I told her: ‘OK, let’s be married.’ And we got married,” José said. “And I just discovered [Betty’s] age on the day of the wedding. She never told me her age.”
“I never told [him] my age. I didn’t remember I didn’t tell him, and he said he was in shock when he found out,” Betty said, both laughing at the memory.
Betty and José both appear decades younger than their age.
The two praised the help of a glam squad, including makeup artist Alice Pires, hair stylist Tony Motta, plastic surgeon Dr. Ramtan Kassir, and cosmetic dentist Dr. Victoria Rubinoff, for keeping them young.
Both José and Betty said they don’t go to the gym, but Betty often does physiotherapy to stay in her best shape.
“I’m pretty faithful to it,” she added. “I know all the exercises I have under my chair, all the rubber bands and the weights.”
José said the pair focus on beauty from the inside out, using skincare, vitamins, and health foods from Portuguese wellness brand Prozis on a daily basis.
“Betty is a very young spirit,” José added.
“She was 87 the first time she told her age publicly.
“We were walking in Park Avenue and there were men doing construction and she had difficulty walking.
“There was an open space for her to pass and the men said: ‘How old are you?’ — it was rude — and she told them: ‘I’m 87.’
“I was in shock, I said: ‘Why did you tell them your age?’ Because I was hiding our age and I was calling myself older to not look so crazy,” he added.
Despite acknowledging their age gap, they look at their love story with optimism.
“One of the things I pray for the most, every day, is to have Betty for more years,” José said.
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Sometimes, the lovebirds are even mistaken for mother and son, with José recounting when strangers asked if Betty was his mom.
“They asked: ‘Is that your mom?’ I said: ‘Yes,'” José added. “What am I going to say? Are they going to understand? No, so I just say: ‘Yes.'”
“You know something, it’s amazing, we walk along the street and people stop us who say: ‘Do you mind if we photograph you?’” Betty chimed in.
“We go to the supermarket, I’m sitting there, and I say [to fans]: ‘You are so kind, you made my day. It made me feel so good.’
“Because you get annoyed when people stop, because it means you look so terrible,” she added, breaking into laughter.
Betty was previously in another age gap marriage with her late ex-husband, who by contrast was nearly 20 years her senior.
“I was married 38 years,” she said.
The age difference sometimes comes with issues, ranging from misunderstandings to flat out cruelty from strangers accusing of José of mistreating Betty.
“They say: ‘I’m living on her money, I can’t wait for her to die.’ I get the most and real bullying,” José said.
“Oh [it’s] terrible,” Betty added regarding the cruel comments.
“It makes me feel really furious,” José said of haters who say he is using Betty for nefarious purposes.
José, a descendant of aristocracy from Mozambique, said he takes the criticism from strangers in stride.
“I don’t mind if someone is bullying me for my sexuality, this and that, I don’t care. I’m very secure with myself.
“Someone told me: ‘I must address you as a she.’ I told him: ‘As you prefer.’ For me, it’s the same.
“‘Oh but you are gay.’ No, I’m not going with men to bed. I know to respect my marriage. Point à la ligne.
“‘Oh, but you look like a woman.’ So what? I love women so much. Women, for me, are the idol of the idols, they’re the muse. And that is my inspiration,” he added.
WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN
Despite their youthful looks, the two have the life experience that many may never see in several lifetimes.
“I was given an Egyptian head by John Hodges for breakfast one day,” Betty said.
“He put it in front of me, and he said: ‘Here, Betty, this is for you, this Egyptian head.’
“I still have the papers on it and the pictures of it, it was so beautiful,” she added.
In her philanthropic spirit, Betty donated the head from 300 B.C. to the Brooklyn Museum.
“People wanted to buy it and I said: ‘No, I don’t want to sell it, because I love it so much. It means more to me,’ she said.
“And then I gave it to the Brooklyn Museum,” she added.
Betty noted a memorable fruit of her generous donation — a child marveling at the artifact.
“I went to the Brooklyn Museum and I see a little boy with his class. The children were standing there with a whole class of children and he was drawing my head in the case,” she said.
“I thought it was because I donated it anonymously. And it was so moving to me to see that, such a great moment in my life, to see that little child standing there drawing this Egyptian head,” she added.
COLOR, CARAT, CUT, AND CLARITY
Unlike past representations of boozy Y2K-era socialites, Betty has steered clear of the drama.
“You know, I was so correct all my life. You could never point a finger at me anywhere and say a thing regarding a scandal. And I was always proud of that,” Betty said.
“Except me,” José added, both of them breaking into laughter.
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After 27 years of marriage, their passion and servitude for one another has not dimmed, staying true to their vows.
“I’m still happy to have Betty every day next to me, sleeping together,” José said.
“I wake up in the middle of the night [for Betty] to go to the bathroom. You know, nothing upsets me,” he added.
“He wakes up and says: ‘Where are you? Are you all right? Do you need my help?'” Betty said.
“And she always needs my help,” José said, both smiling and giggling at one another.
The loving couple gave The U.S. Sun a tour of their bedroom, where their kingsize bed is surrounded by old photographs of family and fond memories.
HEAD OVER HEELS
For a short period, in 1985, José went by Tatiana Valeska Romanov.
“Tatiana survived for a very short time, two or three years. No more. Then I met my first wife and I discovered my sexuality,” he said.
Truly ahead of his time in terms of social commentary, José naturally made his mark in haute couture and fine arts — passions they both share in more ways than one.
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“We love the same things, we love the same kind of clothes. I’m wearing Betty’s clothes,” José said, in head-to-toe Balmain, accessorized with Van Cleef jewelry.
“Betty let me be myself,” he added, tenderly.
Betty, dressed in classic Chanel, donning diamonds for days, looked on smiling as her husband recounted their love story.
“The love is so big between the two of us. Betty for me is a mother, a sister, a wife, everything,” he said. “The most important three people I have in my life are Betty, my son, and my granddaughter.”
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