Loelia Mary, Lady Lindsay, formerly Loelia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Ponsonby; 6 February 1902 – 1 November 1993), was a British socialite, needlewoman and magazine editor.

Family and first marriage

Lindsay was the only daughter of the courtier Sir Frederick Ponsonby, later 1st

Baron Sysonby Baron Sysonby, of Wonersh in the County of Surrey, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1935 for the soldier and courtier Sir Frederick Ponsonby. He was the second son of Sir Henry Ponsonby, grandson of Frederick ...

, and the cookbook author Victoria Ponsonby (née Kennard). She spent her early years at

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, England. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster. Although no longer the principal residence ...

, Park House at

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places Australia * Sandringham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Sandringham, Queensland, a rural locality * Sandringham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station * ...

, and

Birkhall Birkhall (from the Scots ''Birk Hauch'': "Birch River-meadow") is a estate on Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, owned by King Charles III. It is located alongside the River Muick to the south-west of Ballater. History The property w ...

. One of the

Bright Young People __NOTOC__ The Bright Young Things, or Bright Young People, was a group of Bohemian young aristocrats and socialites in London during the Roaring Twenties. The name was given to them by the tabloid press. They threw flamboyant fancy dress parti ...

, she met the twice-divorced, 22-years senior,

Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, (19 March 1879 – 19 July 1953), was a British landowner. He was also noted for his support of the Nazi ideology and his affair with French designer Coco Chanel. Early life Hugh was t ...

. They were married on 20 February 1930 in a blaze of publicity, with

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

as the best man, but were unable to have children. Her marriage to the enormously wealthy peer was described by

James Lees-Milne (George) James Henry Lees-Milne (6 August 1908 – 28 December 1997) was an English writer and expert on country houses, who worked for the National Trust from 1936 to 1973. He was an architectural historian, novelist and biographer. His extens ...

as "a definition of unadulterated hell". It was dissolved in 1947 after years of separation.Lady Lindsay of Dowhill
/ref>

Life after divorce

After her divorce, Loelia, Duchess of Westminster, established herself as a skilful hostess at

Send, Surrey Send is a villages in the United Kingdom, village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Guildford (borough), Guildford borough of the English county of Surrey. The name is thought to mean "sandy place" and sand was extracted at var ...

, occupying herself with needlework and gardening, passions she had inherited from her mother. Her needlework collection was bequeathed to the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. During the 1950s she worked as a feature editor for '' House & Garden'' magazine, and covered the wedding of

Prince Rainier III of Monaco Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years. Rainier was born at the Prince's Pala ...

and

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982), also known as Grace of Monaco, was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. ...

. Lindsay is believed to have popularised the aphorism (falsely attributed to

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

): "Anybody seen in a bus over the age of 30 has been a failure in life", which appears to have been coined by poet Brian Howard. Lindsay's second marriage, to the divorced explorer

Sir Martin Lindsay, 1st Baronet Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Martin Alexander Lindsay, 1st Baronet of Dowhill, (22 August 1905 – 5 May 1981) was a British Army officer, polar explorer, politician and author. He first came to national attention in the 1930s, as a Polar explo ...

, came as a surprise to her friends but was more successful. The couple married on 1 August 1969. Sir Martin, a devoted husband, died in 1981, and Lady Lindsay chose to spend her last years in nursing homes. Her memoirs, written in 1961 and titled ''Grace and Favour: The Memoirs of Loelia, Duchess of Westminster'', are a significant record of aristocratic life between the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Family and first marriage

Life after divorce

References

Further reading