Mary Adelaide Virginia Thomasina Eupatoria "Patsy" Cornwallis-West (née FitzPatrick; The Vale,

Bailieborough Bailieborough or Bailieboro (; ) is a town in County Cavan, Ireland. , its population was 2,683, up from 1,529 as of the 1996 census. Bailieborough's proximity to the N3 National Road has made it a commuter town. History Plantation Before ...

28 October 1854 – 21 July 1920) was an Irish-born aristocrat and a prominent mistress of the future 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 and ...

Early life

Cornwallis-West was born into an upper-class Irish family as the daughter of the Rev. Frederick, a descendant of

Barnaby Fitzpatrick, 1st Baron Upper Ossory Barnaby Fitzpatrick (born ga, Brían Mac Giolla Phádraig) (c.1478–1575) was the last person to have claim to the kingship of Osraige; forfeiting his ancestral title in favour of being created the first Lord Baron Upper Ossory by King Henry ...

, and Lady Olivia FitzPatrick, daughter of

Thomas Taylour, 2nd Marquess of Headfort Thomas Taylour, 2nd Marquess of Headfort KP PC (4 May 1787 – 6 December 1870), styled Viscount Headfort from 1795 to 1800 and Earl of Bective from 1800 to 1829, was an Anglo-Irish Whig politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Me ...

Personal life

Her mother unsuccessfully attempted to seduce Albert, Prince Consort, and Cornwallis-West herself became mistress of the Prince of Wales (later King

) at the age of 16. The affair was discovered, and in 1872 she was married to the Lord-Lieutenant of Denbighshire William Cornwallis-West. He was more than twice her age and from 1885 to 1892 served as a MP for Denbighshire West. They lived at

Ruthin Castle Ruthin Castle ( cy, Castell Rhuthun) is a medieval castle fortification in Wales, near the town of Ruthin in the Vale of Clwyd. It was constructed during the late 13th century by Dafydd ap Gruffydd, the brother of Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, ...

and had three children: * Mary Theresa Olivia "Daisy" Cornwallis-West (1873–1943), who married Prince

Hans Heinrich XV von Hochberg Hans Heinrich XV von Hochberg ( pl, Jan Henryk XV; 23 April 1861 – 31 January 1938) was Prince of Pless (Pszczyna), Count von Hochberg and Baron of Fürstenstein ( Książ). He was the husband (1891–1923) of Mary Theresa Olivia Hochberg von P ...

. * George Cornwallis-West (1874–1951), who married the American heiress,

Jennie Jerome Jennie Spencer-Churchill (; 9 January 1854 – 29 June 1921), known as Lady Randolph Churchill, was an American-born British socialite, the wife of Lord Randolph Churchill, and the mother of British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill. Earl ...

in 1900. She was the former wife of

Lord Randolph Churchill Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was a British statesman. Churchill was a Tory radical and coined the term 'Tory democracy'. He inspired a generation of party managers, created the National Union of ...

and the mother of future

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

, of whom George was just 16 days older than. They too divorced in 1914 and he married the stage actress

Mrs Patrick Campbell Beatrice Rose Stella Tanner (9 February 1865 – 9 April 1940), better known by her stage name Mrs Patrick Campbell or Mrs Pat, was an English stage actress, best known for appearing in plays by Shakespeare, Shaw and Barrie. She also toured th ...

the same year. * Constance Cornwallis-West (1875–1970), who married

Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, (familiarly " Bendor"; 19 March 1879 – 19 July 1953) was a British landowner and one of the wealthiest men in the world. He was the son of Victor Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor, son of the ...

in 1901. They divorced in 1919 and she married John Fitzpatrick Lewis. Cornwallis-West became notorious for using her influence over the Prince of Wales to arrange marriages for her children, particularly the marriage of her younger daughter to the wealthy

Duke of Westminster Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to the ...

.Princess Daisy of Pless: The Happy Years
rvondeh.dircon.co.uk; accessed 8 April 2016. In 1915, she began a relationship with a much younger shell-shocked soldier, Patrick Barrett, nursed in the Duchess of Westminster's hospital in

Le Touquet Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (; pcd, Ech Toutchet-Paris-Plache; vls, 't Oekske, older nl, Het Hoekske), commonly referred to as Le Touquet (), is a commune near Étaples, in the Pas-de-Calais department, northern France. It has a population of ...

. Her attempts to have the soldier promoted within the army caused a scandal. She was widowed in 1917 and died of stomach cancer three years later.

In popular culture

She was portrayed by actress Jennie Linden in the 1978 London Weekend miniseries '' Lillie''''Lillie'', 1978, London Weekend Television miniseries; Internet Movie Database,IMDb.com
/ref> based on the life of her friend

Lillie Langtry Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born on the isla ...

, who was another lover of Edward VII.

References

*Tim Coates, ''Patsy: The Story of Mary Cornwallis-West'' (Bloomsbury, 2003) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornwallis-West, Patsy 1858 births 1920 deaths British socialites Mistresses of Edward VII Women of the Victorian era

Patsy Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

Date of birth unknown Place of death unknown FitzPatrick dynasty

Early life

Personal life

In popular culture

See also

References