Audrey Evelyn James (married names Coats, Field, and Pleydell-Bouverie) (21 April 1902 – 14 February 1968) was an English socialite included in ''The Book of Beauty'' by

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the theat ...

. Through her mother she was allegedly the illegitimate granddaughter of

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

, and she herself was the illegitimate daughter of The 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon.

Early life

Audrey Evelyn James was born on 21 April 1902, officially the daughter of

William Dodge James William Dodge James, (1854–1912) was the son of a wealthy American merchant, who was raised and educated in England. He married Evelyn Elizabeth Forbes, daughter of the Forbes baronets, 4th Baronet of Newe, who became a celebrated society hos ...

and Evelyn Elizabeth Forbes.Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003 Her siblings are Helen Millicent Howard; Alexandra Maud Venetia Fawcus; Silvia Helena Sophia Wilson; and

Edward James Edward Frank Willis James (16 August 1907 – 2 December 1984) was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement. Early life and marriage James was born on 16 August 1907, the only son of William James (who had inherite ...

. Edward James, in his memoirs, claims that rather than being the son of

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

, he was his grandson, his grandmother having had an affair with the Prince of Wales. William Dodge James was undisturbed by this, as he remained on receiving an anonymous letter telling him that Audrey James was not his daughter. Audrey's biological father was alleged to be

Sir Edward Grey Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, (25 April 1862 – 7 September 1933), better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British Liberal statesman and the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the First World War. An adhe ...

, who was later created The 1st

Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

Grey of Fallodon, the British Liberal statesman and

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

Personal life

On 25 March 1922 Audrey James married Muir Dudley Coats, son of Sir Stuart Auchincloss Coats, 2nd Bt. and Jane Muir Greenlees. Before his death, they were the parents of one son: * Peter Coats (1923–1923), who died at 4 days old. On 18 August 1930 she married

Marshall Field III Marshall Field III (September 28, 1893 – November 8, 1956) was an American investment banker, publisher, racehorse owner/breeder, philanthropist, grandson of businessman Marshall Field, heir to the Marshall Field department store fortune, a ...

and in 1933 she was included in ''The Book of Beauty'' by

. In 1930, they went on a private game hunting expedition to Africa and obtained several lion specimens from the expedition. She and her husband were divorced in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

in 1934. In January 1936, it was reported that she had adopted a one year-old boy as her son. On 25 November 1938 she married Hon. Peter Pleydell-Bouverie, son of

Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 6th Earl of Radnor Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 6th Earl of Radnor, (8 July 1868 – 26 June 1930), styled Viscount Folkestone from 1889 to 1900, was a British Conservative Party politician and a British Army officer. Early life Pleydell-Bouverie was the son of Will ...

and Julian Eleanor Adelaide Balfour. They divorced in 1946. She died on 14 February 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponsonby, Dorothea Parry 1876 births 1963 deaths English socialites