"Elsa Maxwell's Hotel for Women" A 20th Century Fox Picture, A Cosmopolitan Production.World's most celebrated party-giver, Elsa Maxwell once used 124 seals to introduce the fish course of a banquet. Her best-kept secret is who finances her extravaganzas. Elsa Maxwell - (Princess Margaret's ex-butler) at Miami. When Cronin asked Elsa if she would have some champagne, Elsa turned her head and refused to answer. "What a creature!" she said. "All dressed up as if he were taking a screen test in Hollywood." Not bad from Miss Maxwell, who must number Not writing an expose on royalty as one of the very few things she hasn't taken money for. August 22, 1952.