Hon. Margaret Leslie Hore-Ruthven (12 June 1901 – 30 April 1970) was a British socialite, one of the " Bright Young Things" of the 1920s. She and her twin sister Alison were included in ''

The Book of Beauty ''The Book of Beauty'' by Cecil Beaton was his first published book of photographs. In his concept of beauty, Beaton, with sketches and photographs, highlights actresses such as Tallulah Bankhead and Anna May Wong but also modernist literary figu ...

'' by Cecil Beaton.

Biography

Margaret Leslie Hore-Ruthven was born in Chelsea, London, one of four daughters of Walter Hore-Ruthven, 10th Lord Ruthven of Freeland, and Mary Ruthven, Lady Ruthven of Freeland. She had a twin sister, Alison (died 1974). Her nickname was "Peggy". As a young woman, Peggy and her twin sister were among the founders of the unofficial society of the Bright Young People and were dubbed by newspapers the "Ralli Twins" and by society as "A&P". They used to dress alike and were basically identical. They used to scandalize society, like when, at the coming-of-age party for

Loel Guinness Group Captain Thomas Loel Evelyn Bulkeley Guinness, (9 June 1906 – 31 December 1988) was a British Conservative politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath (1931–1945), business magnate and philanthropist. Guinness also financed the purc ...

, they wore very short, close-fitting silver dresses. The Ralli Twins

Both sisters modelled for a dress-making establishment. They were among the first in society to wear low-heeled slippers, making them fashionable. Under the name of Ralli Twins, they had a career dancing on stage, but family pressure had them renounce this venture. According to Cecil Beaton, in his ''

'': "The Ruthven Twins are a most striking pair, always identically dressed; even to the brass necklaces, they are indistinguishable from one another. Richly carved with large full mouths, high cheek bones, and knobbly noses, they are as decorative as a pair of Assyrian rams. They are Byzantine goddesses, dressed like fairies in a circus design by Picasso, with their dark locks tied with little tinsel bows, their spangled ballet-skirts, and low-heeled shoes." In 1931 Margaret Leslie Hore-Ruthven married Peter Llewelyn Davies, the middle of five sons of Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, one of the

Llewelyn Davies boys The Davies boys (the middle name ''Llewelyn'' was a tradition begun with their grandfather, not a true double-barreled surname, though the family sometimes treated it as such) were the inspiration for the stories of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie, ...

befriended and later informally adopted by J. M. Barrie. Barrie publicly identified him as the source of the name for the title character in his play '' Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up''. They had three sons: Ruthven (1933–1998), George (born 1935) and Peter (1940–1989).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hore-Ruthven, Margaret Leslie 1901 births 1970 deaths 20th-century English women 20th-century English people British identical twins English socialites

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

English twins Daughters of barons