Lady Mary Lygon

Lady Mary was born at Madresfield Court as the fifth out of seven children and third daughter of the Earl and Countess Beauchamp. In June 1930, Lady Mary dated Prince George and was set to be engaged to him. However, Lord and Lady Beauchamp's marriage fell apart when the former's homosexual relationships were publicly revealed by the latter's brother, the Duke of Westminster, in 1931. The scandal ruined Lady Mary's chances of marrying the King's son, and Lord Beauchamp went into exile on the continent. Lady Beauchamp, "always disliked and now hated by her daughters", left Madresfield Court and retired to her brother's estate. The tall, blond and blue-eyed Lady Mary and her three sisters, called the "Beauchamp Belles", were left in charge of Madresfield Court.[1] Around that time, Lady Mary formed a close and long-lasting friendship with the author Evelyn Waugh, inspiring the character of Lady Julia Flyte from Brideshead Revisited.[2]

Later in the decade, Lady Mary met Prince Vsevolod Ivanovich of Russia. Their engagement was announced on 1 February 1939, with the marriage, attended by two of Lady Mary's sisters, two witnesses and a Russian priest, taking place on 31 May in Chelsea register office. The religious service was held the next day in a Russian Orthodox church in Buckingham Palace Road. Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia, head of the House of Romanov, created her Princess Romanovsky-Pavlovsky with the style of Serene Highness at her husband's request.[3]

During the Second World War, the Princess ran a Red Cross unit called Princess Pavlovsky's Unit, and the couple often entertained Yugoslavian diplomats, the Prince being first cousin of King Peter II. Childless, they were devoted to their Pekingese dogs. Their marriage, however, began disintegrating in the 1950s. Both drank heavily, with the Princess eventually becoming a depressed alcoholic. 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, but the Prince left her following Christmas 1953. The Princess's mental health declined rapidly throughout the next year. In February 1956, the couple got divorced on the grounds of Prince Vsevolod's adultery, and in 1957, she resumed the style she was entitled to as daughter of an earl and the surname Lygon.[3] She never remarried or recovered from alcoholism, and spent the rest of her life surrounded by her dogs. Lady Mary Lygon died in Faringdon in 1982.

• National Portrait Gallery's portraits of Lady Mary Lygon