Daisy Fellowes
The Hon. Daisy Fellowes (née Marguerite Séverine Philippine Decazes de Glücksberg, (April 29, 1890 – December 13, 1962), was a celebrated 20th-century society figure, acclaimed beauty, minor novelist and poet, editor in chief of French Harper's Bazaar, fashion icon, and an heiress to the Singer sewing machine fortune.
Parents and childhood
She was born in Paris the only daughter of Isabelle-Blanche Singer (1869-1896), who committed suicide, and Jean Élie Octave Louis Sévère Amanieu Decazes (1864-1912), the 3rd Duke Decazes and Glücksberg. Her maternal grandfather was Isaac Merritt Singer, the American sewing-machine pioneer. After her mother's death, she and her siblings were largely raised by their aunt Winnaretta Singer, Princess Edmond de Polignac, a noted patron of the arts, particularly music.
First marriage
Her first husband, whom she married 10 May 1910 in Paris, was Jean Amédée Marie Anatole, Prince of Broglie (born in Paris on 27 January 1886), whom she reportedly caught in bed with the family's chauffeur[citation needed]. He died of influenza on 20 February 1918 while serving with the French Army in Mascara, Algeria, though malicious observers gossiped that he actually committed suicide as a result of his homosexuality having been exposed.
They had three daughters:
- Princess Ermeline Isabelle Edmée Séverine (Neuilly[disambiguation needed], 16 Feb 1911 - Onez, Switzerland, 10 Sep 1986). Married to Marie Alexandre William Alvar Biaudos Comte de Castéja (Paris, 6 Apr 1907 - Paris, 6 July 1983) in Neuilly, 8 Nov 1932.
- Princess Isabelle Marguerite Jeanne Pauline (Lamorlaye, 27 Jul 1912 - Geneva, 18 Jul 1960). Married to Olivier Charles Humbert Marie, Marquis de La Moussaye (La Poterie, 26 Mars 1908 - Paris, 20 October 1988) in Neuilly, 3 Jun 1931. Divorced in Paris, 13 April 1945.
- Princess Jacqueline Marguerite (Paris, 5 January 1918 - Crans-Montana, Valais 26 February 1965). Married to Alfred Ignaz Maria Kraus (Sarajevo, 28 November 1908-) in Neuilly 6 October 1941. Divorced in Münster 3 February 1958.
Of her Broglie children, the notoriously caustic Daisy once said, "The eldest is like her father, only more masculine. The second is like me, only without the guts. And the last is by some horrible little man called Lischmann."
Second marriage
Her second husband, whom she married on August 9, 1919 in London, was the Hon. Reginald Ailwyn Fellowes (1884-1953), a banker cousin of Winston Churchill. They had one child, Rosamond Daisy Fellowes (1921-1998).
Affairs
Among her lovers was Duff Cooper, the British ambassador to France.
Literary works
Fellowes wrote several novels and at least one epic poem. Her best-known work is Les dimanches de la comtesse de Narbonne (1931, published in English as "Sundays"). She also wrote the novel Cats in the Isle of Man.
Status as fashion icon
She also was known as one of the most daring fashion plates of the 20th century, arguably the most important patron of the surrealist couturier Elsa Schiaparelli.
She died in Paris.
External links
For images of Daisy Fellowes, see \this photo and \these photos, mostly by Beaton.
- An article about Daisy's favorite designer, Schiaparelli, who claimed two favorite clients, the Duchess of Windsor and Daisy herself.