Jackie and David Siegel, the former King and Queen of Versailles

Riches to rags, not rags to riches is the theme of the Queen of Versailles, the story of David and Jackie Siegel, told through the eyes of a photographer who gets to see them first hand. Though they aren't the most wealthy family in the world, or even close, they are in fact billionaires in their own right. That, however is changing as bank foreclosures loom on a house that isn't quite built yet, but which was slated to be the very largest home in the United States. At 90 thousand square feet, the amazing house which is now subject to bank foreclosures and short sales like the rest of the world is nothing short of spectacular.

Bank foreclosures were the least of their worries when it came to the Siegel's much vaunted lifestly until very recently. Now their home is for sale for a cool 75 million dollars. David, arrogant to the end, on camera told how he handed the state of Florida to candidate George Bush in ways that could have been illegal according to him, making many question if that same methodology was used the last time around.

The Siegels are a study in the problems that can take place when anyone relies too heavily on the housing market goes. Nothing if not arrogant, Siegel touts himself on camera as the person who handed the state of Florida to George Bush in ways that frankly, may have been less than legal. Getting that kind of press and being a billionaire is a lot to look up to. Siegel is possessed of a vast amount of hubris, while Jackie Siegel appears to be nothing if not naive and unaware of what constitutes the real world.

The joke of the year has been that Jackie Siegel, in an effort to save money --economized by using the stretch limo to go to McDonalds to get their meal. Somehow that doesn't seem much like tightening their belt to the rest of the world. Faced with foreclosure and the loss of the lifestyle they are accustomed too, it doesn't seem that learning how to live on less is something they are going to embrace any time soon... even if short sales claim the largest house in the United States.