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Shelagh Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster

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The Duchess of Westminster in 1902
The Duchess in 1906
The Duchess in 1907
Medal record
Sailing
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1908 London 8 Metre

Constance Edwina Lewis, CBE (formerly Grosvenor, née Cornwallis-West; 16 May 1875 – 21 January 1970), also known as Shelagh, was an English socialite and peeress.[1]

Duchess of Westminster

Constance Edwina Cornwallis-West was the youngest child of William and Mary Cornwallis-West. She was very close to her sister, Daisy, Princess of Pless. At a party at Blenheim Palace, Mary asked the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) to convince Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, to marry her daughter. The pair were married on 16 February 1901 and moved into Grosvenor House on Park Lane, a mansion that the Duke had inherited from his grandfather.[2] Later they lived together at Eaton Hall, Cheshire.[2] The Duke was one of the richest men in the world.[3]

They had three children:

  • Lady Ursula Mary Olivia Grosvenor (21 February 1902 – 1978), whose descendants are the only descendants of the Duchess and of the Duke
  • Edward George Hugh Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor (1904 – February 1909)
  • Lady Mary Constance Grosvenor (27 June 1910 – 7 June 2000)

The Duchess was one of only two women to compete in sailing at the 1908 Summer Olympics as owner and extra crewmember of the 8-metre bronze medal-winning yacht Sorais.[4] She distributed the diplomas of special merit to the competitors of the other Olympic sports on 25 July 1908.

The marriage was happy at first and the couple shared many interests, including yachting and motor racing. However, her parents' expectation of personal financial gain through the marriage and her own long absence from home affected her marriage to the conservative Duke. In 1909, the couple's only son and heir apparent to the dukedom died following an operation for appendicitis while the Duchess was away. The Duke accused her of neglecting the child, and the Duchess did not attend the boy's funeral.[2] It was rumoured that the Duchess was having a secret liaison with the Duke of Alba,[2] whilst her husband had what he described as his own "nocturnal adventures".[2] Nonetheless, the couple appeared together at social events until the birth of their youngest child, Lady Mary. In 1913, the Duke requested separation but, with the outbreak of the First World War, the couple turned their attention to war service – the Duke joined his regiment and the Duchess sponsored a military hospital in Le Touquet, housed in a local casino.[3][5]

"Beautiful Duchess Gets Divorce" (July 12, 1919)[6]

Later life

St Mary's Church, Eccleston, Old Churchyard – plaque commemorating Constance Edwina (née Cornwallis-West, 1877−1970)

In 1918, the Duchess was invested as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her service in the war. The couple were divorced – on the grounds of the Duke's adultery and desertion – the following year, with the decree being made absolute 19 December 1919.[3] The alimony settlement of £13,000 a year he made upon her was then the largest in British legal history.[7]

The couple remained on friendly terms after 1919, hosting their daughters' debut balls together. Because their subsequent interactions were amicable, it has been surmised that both parties collaborated to achieve the divorce because each wanted to end the marriage and to remarry.[8]

On 14 January 1920, aged 44, the former Duchess of Westminster secretly married her private secretary and agent, Captain John Fitzpatrick Lewis, then in his thirties, at Lyndhurst, Hampshire. She had met Lewis early in the war, while he was being treated at her hospital in Le Touquet.[9][10] They had no children. The former duchess died aged 94.

Dennis Wheatley dedicated his 1961 thriller Vendetta in Spain to her.

Ancestry

16. John West, 2nd Earl De La Warr
8. Frederick West
17. Mary Wynyard
4. Frederick Richard West
18. Richard Myddelton
9. Maria Myddelton
19. Elizabeth Rushout
2. William Cornwallis-West
20. Thomas Whitby
10. John Whitby
21. Mabella Turton
5. Theresa Whitby
22. Thomas Symonds
11. Mary Anne Symonds
23. Elizabeth Mallett
1. Constance Lewis
24. Joseph FitzPatrick
12. Frederick FitzPatrick
25. Mary Persse
6. Frederick FitzPatrick
26. Thomas Stone
13. Edwina Stone
27.
3. Mary FitzPatrick
28. Thomas Taylour, 1st Marquess of Headfort
14. Thomas Taylour, 2nd Marquess of Headfort
29. Mary Quin
7. Lady Olivia Taylour
30. Sir John Stevenson
15. Olivia Stevenson
31. Anne Morton

See also

References

  1. ^ "Princess Daisy of Pless: the happy years".
  2. ^ a b c d e Picardie, Justine (2010). Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life. London: HarperCollins. pp. 149–57.
  3. ^ a b c Harris, Russell (2011). "Lafayette L5112". Princess Daisy of Pless: The Happy Years. London: Victoria & Albert Museum. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  4. ^ Toms, Jan (11 May 2012). "Olympic Ladies – the 1896, 1900, 1904 and London's 1908 Olympiad". Suite101. Vancouver BC. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  5. ^ "Le Touquet Paris-Plage  – History". Le Touquet Holidays. 2011.
  6. ^ Donovan, Henry. "Chicago Eagle". Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  7. ^ The Guinness Book of Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. 1972. p. 200.This record stood as late as the 1970s. According to National Archives currency converter, this figure in 1920 (nearest year to the divorce) was worth £275,730 a year in 2005.
  8. ^ Lady Mary's debutante ball 1928 was jointly hosted by the Duke (now married to Loelia Ponsonby and Mrs John Fitzpatrick Lewis (Constance)."Lady Mary says:--". The Sunday Morning Star. Wilmington DE. 1 July 1928. p. 23. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  9. ^ "Duchess married to army aviator". The New York Times. 24 January 1920. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  10. ^ "Duchess of Westminster; a secret marriage". The Press. 23 January 1920. p. 6. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
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