Margaret Trudeau and Tom Sullivan's relationship

Margaret Trudeau and Tom Sullivan's relationship appears in the diary as an emphatic declaration of affection followed by a story of danger on horseback. Margaret’s account gives Tom a distinctive presence as a risk-taker, while the diary records the romance at one remove: through what she tells Andy Warhol at dinner.

In Warhol’s Social Circle

Tom Sullivan appears in an April 6, 1978, account of a crowded lunch gathering, arriving after a guest whose talk of buying major properties had captured attention. The entry does not connect Tom with Margaret there, but places him in the social world Warhol was recording before the later, explicit account of their romance.

Margaret’s Account of Tom

After an Ungaro party at Doubles, Margaret joined dinner at Quo Vadis and spoke freely with Warhol, saying she knew she could tell him things because he would not repeat them. She shared that she was in love with Tom Sullivan. The diary presents this as Margaret’s own clear description of her feelings; it does not offer Tom’s account of the relationship.

Her example was a horseback ride in Georgia. Tom rode so fast that Margaret hid behind a tree and closed her eyes; she described it as the fastest she had ever seen anyone go. The episode makes her affection legible through the particular danger she recounts: Tom’s daring exhilarates the story, but leaves her seeking shelter from it. Warhol’s observation that Tom takes chances echoes the quality Margaret’s anecdote conveys.

What the Diary Reveals—and Leaves Open

The relationship is conveyed through intimacy shared as gossip rather than through a narrated courtship. Margaret’s confidence in Warhol establishes the immediate setting for her disclosure, and the horseback story supplies its memorable detail. Beyond her declaration and this account of Tom’s risk-taking, the entries do not describe how the relationship began, how Tom understood it, or what became of the couple.