He is 5 ft 4 in with thinning grey hair and a penchant for oversized spectacles. She is 6 ft 2 in without shoes and the epitome of dusky supermodel beauty. Slavica and Bernie Ecclestone are the king and queen of Formula 1 but catty acquaintances have dubbed them the beauty and beast of the motor racing track.
The Croatian-born former Armani model met her future husband amid the champagne-popping bonanza that is the Italian Grand Prix. He invited her to Las Vegas and by the time the aircraft touched the ground, smitten Slavica declared she "already loved him to death".
The short and cuddly impresario was 53 and the glamorous raven-haired woman was 24. Now, 12 years later, they have a successful relationship and two children.
Slavica, mainly for tax reasons, is reputed to own 80 per cent of Ecclestone's company, which includes homes in Corsica, Gstaad and the French Riviera. It encompasses two jets and a £7 million headquarters in London's Hyde Park - not forgetting a top-class collection of netsuke miniature Japanese sculptures.
For the archetypal trophy wife, Slavica managed to keep a low profile until the eruption of the recent tobacco sponsorship controversy. Before that, the first time she came to widespread media attention was last year when masked robbers ripped a £650,000 ring off her finger.
