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Loelia Mary, Lady Lindsay, formerly Loelia, Duchess of Westminster, (''née'' The Honourable Loelia Ponsonby (6 February 1902 – 1 November 1993), was a British socialite, needlewoman and magazine editor.
/ref> Her marriage to the enormously wealthy peer failed, and was described by James Lees-Milne as "a definition of unadulterated hell". It was dissolved in 1947 after years of separation.Lady Lindsay of Dowhill
/ref>
Loelia Mary, Lady Lindsay, formerly Loelia, Duchess of Westminster, (''née'' The Honourable Loelia 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 Frederick Ponsonby, 1st Baron Sysonby, Sir Frederick Ponsonby, later 1st Baron Sysonby, and Victoria Ponsonby, Baroness Sysonby, Victoria Lily (Kennard), Lady Sysonby, the well-known cookbook author. She spent her early years at St James's Palace, Park House at Sandringham House, Sandringham, and Birkhall. One of the Bright Young People, she met the twice-divorced Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster. They were married on 20 February 1930 in a blaze of publicity, with Winston Churchill as the best man, but were unable to have children.Anne Duchess of Westminster/ref> Her marriage to the enormously wealthy peer failed, and was described by James Lees-Milne 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 skillful hostess at Send, Surrey, occupying herself with needlework and gardening, passions she had inherited from her mother. Her needlework collection was bequeathed to the National Trust. During the 1950s she worked as a feature editor for ''House & Garden (magazine), House & Garden'' magazine, and covered the wedding of Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly. Lindsay is believed to have popularised the aphorism (falsely attributed to Margaret Thatcher): "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 (poet), Brian Howard. Lindsay's second marriage, to the divorced explorer Sir Martin Lindsay, 1st Baronet, came as a surprise to her friends but was much more successful. The couple were 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 World War, First and Second World Wars.References
Further reading
* ''Grace and Favour: The Memoirs of Loelia, Duchess of Westminster'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1961. * ''Cocktails & laughter: the albums of Loelia Lindsay (Loelia, Duchess of Westminster)'', Hamish Hamilton, 1983. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsay, Loelia 1902 births 1993 deaths 20th-century memoirists British embroiderers Duchesses of Westminster Daughters of barons British magazine editors British memoirists British socialites Wives of baronets Wives of knights