Lady Mary Lygon (formerly Princess Romanovsky-Pavlovsky; 12 February 1910 – 27 September 1982), known as Maimie, was a British aristocrat and Russian princess by marriage.

Royal match failure

Lady Mary Lygon was born at

Madresfield Court Madresfield Court is a country house in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. The home of the Lygon family for nearly six centuries, it has never been sold and has passed only by inheritance since the 12th century; a line of unbroken family ownership ...

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

; the fifth of seven children, and third daughter, of Lord

William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp, (20 February 1872 – 14 November 1938), styled Viscount Elmley until 1891, was a British Liberal politician. He was Governor of New South Wales between 1899 and 1901, a member of the Liberal administrations ...

and Lady Lettice Lygon (''née'' Grosvenor), Countess Beauchamp. In June 1930, Lady Mary began dating Prince George and seemed set to be engaged to him. However, her parents' marriage fell apart when Lord Beauchamp's homosexual relationships were publicly revealed by Lady Beauchamp's brother, Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, in 1931. The scandal ruined Lady Mary's chances of marrying the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

's son. Lord Beauchamp then went into a self-imposed exile on

the continent Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

and Lady Beauchamp, claiming she was "always disliked and now hated by her daughters", left Madresfield Court and retired to her family estate of Eaton Hall, to live with her brother. The tall, blond and blue-eyed Lady Mary, and her three sisters—called the ''Beauchamp Belles''—were left in charge of Madresfield Court. Around this time, Lady Mary formed a close and long-lasting friendship with the author

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

, inspiring the character of Lady Julia Flyte in ''

Brideshead Revisited ''Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'' is a novel by English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of the protagonist Charles ...

''.

Imperial marriage

In the late 1930s, Lady Mary met

Prince Vsevolod Ivanovich of Russia Prince Vsevolod Ivanovich of Russia ( – 18 June 1973) was a male line great-great-grandson of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and a nephew of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia. He was the last male member of the Romanov family born in Imperial Russia.Kin ...

. Their engagement was announced on 1 February 1939. The wedding, which was attended by two of Lady Mary's sisters, two witnesses and a Russian priest, took place on 31 May 1939 in the

Chelsea register office Kensington and Chelsea Register Office is an office for the registration of births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships located in Chelsea Old Town Hall in Chelsea, London. It has hosted the weddings of many notable people. According to ''T ...

. A religious service was held the next day in a

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

church on

Buckingham Palace Road Buckingham Palace Road is a street that runs through Victoria, London, from the south side of Buckingham Palace towards Chelsea, forming the A3214 road. It is dominated by Victoria Station. History In the 18th century, the road was known as ...

Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia (russian: Владимир Кириллович Романов; 21 April 1992) was the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia, a position which he claimed from 1938 to his death. Early life Vladimir was bo ...

, head of the

House of Romanov The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to th ...

, created her Princess Romanovsky-Pavlovsky, with the style of

Serene Highness His/Her Serene Highness ( abbreviation: HSH, second person address: Your Serene Highness) is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Over the past 400 years, it has also used as a style for senior members ...

, at her husband's request. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Princess ran a

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

unit called Princess Pavlovsky's Unit. The couple often entertained Yugoslavian diplomats—the Prince being first cousin of King Peter II. Childless, they were devoted to their

Pekingese The Pekingese (also spelled Pekinese) is a breed of toy dog, originating in China. The breed was favored by royalty of the Chinese Imperial court as a companion dog, and its name refers to the city of Peking (Beijing) where the Forbidden City i ...

dogs. Their marriage, however, began disintegrating in the 1950s. Both drank heavily, with the Princess eventually becoming a depressed

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

. According to her friends, the Prince had spent all her money, and they were completely broke by 1952; living together, but not speaking. They moved to

Hove, Sussex Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th c ...

, but the Prince left her following Christmas in 1953. The Princess' mental health declined rapidly throughout the next year. In February 1956, the couple divorced on the grounds of Prince Vsevolod's adultery, and in 1957, she resumed the lifestyle she was accustomed to as the daughter of an earl, with the surname of Lygon. She never remarried, nor recovered from alcoholism, and spent the rest of her life surrounded by her dogs. Lady Mary Lygon died in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, in 1982.

References

External links

National Portrait Gallery's portraits of Lady Mary Lygon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lygon, Mary 1910 births 1982 deaths Daughters of British earls Russian princesses by marriage House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

People from Malvern, Worcestershire