Friends and Confidantes of the British Royals

[grandduchessella]

There was some discussion on other threads about Queen Mary's faithful friend, Mabel Airlie, the Queen Mother's jewel endower Mrs. Ronald Greville, Alexandra's lifetime companion Charlotte Knollys, the Connaughts intimate chum Leonie Leslie and others. I thought maybe a topic devoted to those who interacted with the royals and were, in some cases, closer to them than some of their friends might be interesting.

[grandduchessella]

Leonie Leslie (confidante of the Duke & Duchess of Connaught) with her sisters, Jennie (Lady Randolph Churchill, part of Edward VII's set) and Claire (who married Moreton Frewen). The 3 sisters were known as 'the Good (Claire), the Witty (Leonie) and the Beautiful (Jennie).'



"Sir John Leslie 2nd Baronet was the only son of five children the other four being girls. He was a great wit and raconteur but not quite so good a painter as his father. He married the delightful Leonie Jerome whose stunning elder sister Jenny married Lord Randolph Churchill. Both sisters were brilliant pianists and pupils of Czerny. The Bechstein piano in the Drawing Room was specially chosen for her by the famous concert pianist Padeweski and is over 100 years old. There are many of the Churchill's 'hand me downs' in the Castle as the Leslies were considered the poor relations. Though Jennie was the family beauty, Leonie enchanted young and old alike with her wit. sympathy and sound advice until she died in 1943. On her death bed she was constantly attended to by nurses around the clock. On her last night while the nurse was dosing off an elderly woman approached Leonie, spoke to her and left the room. The nurse passed no remarks as she thought it was one of the family. Leonie died peacefully in her sleep. After the funeral everyone was sitting in the Dining Room when the nurse remarked that the lady in the portrait to the left of the fireplace (Lady Constance) was the one who had visited Leonie on her death bed. Lady Constance had died in 1925. Sir John Leslie 2nd Baronet died in 1944." (castle Leslie)

There is a book on the 3 sisters:



Anita Leslie wrote several books detailing the lives of her family and of those who they were close to, including:
 
 Lady Randolph Churchill: The story of Jennie Jerome 
The Marlborough House Set (stories of those who made up the social set of the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII)
Edwardians in Love (this contains some good information on the relationship of Leonie Leslie & the Connaughts)
Cousin Clare: The tempestuous career of Clare Sheridan (she was a close friend of Daisy Connaught, Crown Princess of Sweden)

 

[grandduchessella]

Clare Sheridan was a cousin of Sir Winston Churchill whom she embarrassed by her wild behaviour and belief in free love. She married in 1910 and had three children, one of whom died in 1914. Grief-stricken, she modelled an angel for her child's grave and discovered a talent for sculpture. After the death of her husband in the First World War, she began exhibiting her portrait sculptures, including one of Churchill, created while he painted her. An admirer of communism, she travelled in secret to the Soviet Union in 1920. There she sculpted Lenin and Trotsky, later publishing her diary of the trip. She then went to Mexico and America, where she settled, becoming friends with Charlie Chaplin. Next she turned to journalism, interviewing senior European figures for the American press. Her second trip to Russia, in 1923, proved disillusioning. She took her children to live first in Turkey and then on the edge of the Sahara in Algeria. After the Second World War she became a Roman Catholic. She continued to sculpt and to write her memoirs. (courtesy National Portrait Gallery)



Claire was very close to Margaret Connaught, Crown Princess of Sweden and spent a good deal of time with her in Sweden. While their personalities were different, both were dedicated artists. Visiting the Swedish royals in the 1920s, she remarked in an article how sad it was to see Daisy's rooms standing empty. Claire was the daughter of Clara Jerome Frewen, sister of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Leonie Jerome Leslie.

There's a good article on her here:

http://www.trotskyana.net/Other_trotskyana/Trotsky_Sculptors/trotsky_sculptors.html

[grandduchessella]

Jennie Jerome Churchill, wife of Lord Randolph Churchill:

"Jennie was betimes an eminent Victorian or Georgian lady, as her 67 years spanned monarchies from Queen Victoria to George V, each with their own style of societal relationships.3 But the social elite and significant events in her life are more closely associated with the Edwardian era.

Her years with Lord Randolph Churchill were at first socially connected to the activities of the Prince of Wales. After their own marriage in 1874, they joined in the merry life of the Marlborough House Set. But just two years later, they were ostracized by the Prince over an argument involving what amounted to a threat by Randolph to blackmail the royal personage—developing out of the behavior of Randolph’s brother, the Marquess of Blandford. This resulted in the temporary exile of the Churchills to Ireland, and it was seven long years before the Prince came to Lord and lady Randolph’s house for dinner with a full and formal reconciliation.

Three years later in 1886, Jennie complained to his mother, the Duchess of Marlborough, about his sudden coldness toward her. The correspondence between husband and wife rapidly returned to exchanges of "Dearest," which indicates some sort of reconciliation. Some historians have seized upon this to suggest that it was the first indication from Randolph’s physicians that they suspected—however inappropriately—he had syphilis. This, they suggest, released Jennie for extramarital affairs, including a possible one with the Prince of Wales.

The Prince had three great extramarital loves: "Lily," Mrs. Edward Langtree, "Daisy" the Countess of Warwick; and the famous Mrs. Keppell.8 Those who argue that Jennie was a fourth sometimes cite the Prince's letter to her after Lord Randolph’s death:

"My dear lady Randolph, the sad news reached me this morning that all is over...and I felt that for his and your sakes it was best so....There was a cloud in our relationship but I am glad to think it is long been forgotten by both of us."

This, they suggest, was not a reference to the earlier quarrel, but to something of a more intimate nature. There is really very scant evidence of the latter.

True, Lady Randolph was a guest at Sandringham and reveled in dancing with the Prince. But many beautiful women did, and by no means all of them ended in his bed. A random tryst with no prospect of a permanent relationship seems not to have been Jennie’s wish, despite the strong hints of certain biographers. In fact she would marry again twice: George Cornwallis-West (sixteen days older than Winston, and 20 years younger than Jennie) in 1900, separating from him in 1912, and divorcing him in April 1914; and Montagu Porch (who was three years younger than Winston) in 1918, who survived her.

The closest to an intimate romantic relationship during her first marriage seems to have been with the Austrian Count Kinsky, who caused Jennie some pain when he became engaged, to a woman twenty years her junior, while she was accompanying the dying Randolph on a world tour in late 1894. She later wrote: "The bitterness, if there was any, has absolutely left me. He and I have parted the best of friends and in a truly fin de sieclè manner....He has not behaved particularly well and I can’t find much to admire in him but I care for him as some people like opium or drink although they would like not to..."

The passions of lady Randolph’s life went far beyond the male of the species. She was a lover of literature, music, horses and the hunt—and of her two sons. The support she gave to the demands and budding political career of Winston, who was to achieve his greatest triumphs after her death, was manifest. She probably said it best in her memoirs: "Having been favored by Providence with delightful and absorbing experiences, why should I not record all that I can about them...But there may be some to whom these Reminiscences will be interesting chiefly in virtue of what is left unsaid." (courtesy of Biography)

Her marriage to George Cornwallis-West made her the sister-in-law of Princess Daisy of Pless.

[grandduchessella]

Leonie Jerome Leslie.

"Seymour Leslie records, in The Jerome Connexion: '... He ... retired from the Grenadiers after the Egyptian campaign to study at the Academie Julien in Paris ... and ... [in October 1884, as] an idle man-about-town ... married Leonie Jerome, younger sister of Jennie (Lady Randolph Churchill), in New York with the active disapproval of both ... [families], though the American press pointed out that he was heir to Irish estates with twenty thousand gold sovereigns a year virtually tax free. Her mother, Mrs Leonard Jerome, was the perfect snob, even ashamed that Jennie had been born to her in a Brooklyn house, ... and feeling that these Irish squireens were poor fish after the magnificent Churchills. ... The young couple were married in Grace Church [New York], Frank Griswold, the American sportsman, being best man, ... [and] the Leslies [soon] accepted Leonie. ... "


She would go on to have a very close relationship with Arthur, Duke of Connaught (physical or not, I'm not sure) and with his wife, Louise. She was also friendly with his children and maintained a correspondence with their daughter Margaret after she moved to Sweden. (Leonie was not only close to her parents but Margaret was close to Leonie's niece Claire Frewen).

"Anita Leslie records, in Edwardians in Love (London, 197?): '[Leonie Leslie,] when she entered London society as the chic, graceful, but not particularly pretty younger sister of a famous beauty [Lady Randolph Churchill] ..., had to overcome her own sensitivity to comparison. ... Incapable of jealousy, Leonie determined to develop her own assets to perfection. She played the piano as well as her sister, excelling at Chopin, whereas Jennie liked to pound out more tempestuous feelings in Beethoven sonatas, and she had the quickest wit of her generation. But apart from her music and her joie de vivre, Leonie possessed an extraordinary talent for touching the emotional chords in human beings. She wanted people to like her - not an unusual trait - but she also understood the shy and the hopeful: she was genuinely interested in others, and as she grew older her sympathy and wisdom increased. ... "

"It was in the mid-nineties, when they had been married for about ten years, that ... [John Leslie], who had served in the Guards Brigade under the Duke of Connaught, introduced the vivacious Leonie to his former commanding officer. H.R.H. immediately fell under her spell, and remained so until 1942, when he died aged ninety-two. The Duke was a keen professional soldier, and the year 1895 contained a bitter disappointment, for he had hoped to succeed the old Duke of Cambridge as Commander-in-Chief. ... [Leonie Leslie thus entered his] life at a moment when he felt the star of fortune turned harshly. Being a susceptible male, Arthur knew his heart shaken; and being a shy German princess, the Duchess reached out for the gaiety which the American radiated. ... For decades [therefore, Leonie Leslie] "ruled the Duchess and ran the Duke". ...

For two or three years [1900-1904] the Duke commanded the troops in Ireland ... . The Leslies naturally paid frequent visits to the Connaughts' residence in Dublin, and in summer-time the Duke rented Castle Blayney, a large country house seventeen miles from Castle Leslie, so the va et vien could be continuous. ... Leonie and her husband accompanied the Connaughts to India when the Duke went to represent King Edward at the Durbar. ... When in 1909 [sic - 1907] the Duke assumed command of the Mediterranean area it meant that the Jack Leslies went out to enjoy Malta, and [the Leslie] scrapbooks grew heavy with photographs of polo, ponies and parasols. ... In 1913 the Duke became Governor-General of Canada. ... Soon after this, war broke out and Leonie's son, Norman, was killed [N/1-2], as were the sons of almost all her friends. ... In 1915, to help assuage their grief, Jack and Leonie paid a visit to Ottawa. ... In 1917, when the Connaughts had returned to England and the Duchess grew seriously ill, Leonie called daily at Clarence House and was asked to break the final news. ... Throughout the next twenty-five years Leonie would continue to cheer and amuse her Prince. ... [And] from 1898 to 1936 she nearly always spent Whitsun at the Duke's house at Bagshot. ...' "

"[Leonie Lady Leslie died in 1943 receiving an obituary notice in The Times] ... half a column long, in itself unusual for someone not in public life, especially in 1943 when newsprint space was severely rationed. ... Lennox Robinson, the playwright, for many years manager of Dublin's Abbey Theatre, wrote of Leonie ...: "[She was an] ... invisible mender and you would meet at a weekend in her lovely Monaghan home the Governor-General of the Free State and the Commander of the Forces in Northern Ireland. ... She talked brilliantly herself but with the great gift of making everyone else talk a little bit better than they thought they could. ..." [Sir John] ... was a man bereft indeed and only survived her by a few months. ...' "

[grandduchessella]

Queen Mary's best friend. Mabell Frances Elizabeth Gore1 (b. 10 March 1866, d. 7 April 1956), daughter of the Earl of Arran. She married David William Stanley Ogilvy, 11th Earl of Airlie (1856-1900) in 1886. The Earl served in Egypt in 1882 and 1885, and was killed in June 1900 during the Boer War while at the head of his regiment, the 12th Lancers. (I think he was shot in the head). He had previously been wounded in S. Africa and was personally nursed by his wife in-country. He had only resumed command 2 weeks prior to his death. He left several thousand pounds directly to charity, including provisions for the men (officers and enlisted) in his unit. Mabel was left a widow with 6 small children, ages 13 to 4. Her son David became the 12th Earl at just age 7. Mabel Airlie's grandson, Angus Ogilvy, was married to Queen Mary's granddaughter, Princess Alexandra of Kent.

She was invested as a Dame of Grace, Order of St. John of Jerusalem (D.G.St.J.) as a Dame Grand Cross, Order of the British Empire (G.B.E.) in 1920, and as a Dame Grand Cross, Royal Victorian Order (G.C.V.O.) in 1953.. She held the office of Lady of the Bedchamber to HM Queen Mary. She was an author of a book of memoirs, Thatched With Gold. She graduated from St. Andrews University with the degree of honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.).

She had the following children:
Lady Kitty Edith Blanche Ogilvy
Lady Helen Alice Wyllington Ogilvy (who married a cousin, Major Hon. Clement Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, they were grandparents to the famous Mitford sisters, he was KIA in 1915)
Lady Mabell Griselda Esther Sudley Ogilvy (trainbearer at HM Queen Mary's coronation in 1911, she died in 1918)
Sir David Lyulph Gore Wolseley Ogilvy, 7th Earl of Airlie (held the office of a Lord-in-Waiting to HM King George V between 1926 and 1929 and the office of Lord Chamberlain to HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother between 1937 and 1965)
Hon. Bruce Arthur Ashley Ogilvy (held the office of Equerry to HRH The Prince of Wales between 1921 and 1930)
Captain Hon. Patrick Julian Harry Stanley Ogilvy (KIA 1917)

Like so many, there is a Winston Churchill connection here as well. Blanche Ogilvy, daughter of the 10th Earl of Airlie and sister-in-law to Mabel, was the mother of Clementine Churchill, Winston's wife.

[grandduchessella]

Charlotte Knollys (courtesy wikipedia):

Charlotte Knollys (1844 – 1930) was a Lady of the Bedchamber, and the first woman private secretary, to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, later Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, consort of Edward VII of the United Kingdom.

The daughter of William Thomas Knollys, a successful military figure and Comptroller of the Household to Edward VII the Prince of Wales, Charlotte was sent into Alexandra's service as a Lady of the Bedchamber. The Princess of Wales came to rely heavily on Charlotte's good and loyal qualities, and by the late 1880's she began to perform duties as a private secretary. Alexandra required her services more when she was in mourning, for example when her beloved son, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, died in 1892.

Upon Edward's ascension to the throne, when Queen Victoria died in 1901, Alexandra was officially installed at Alexandra's side. She performed all duties as private secretary and was also in Alexandra's complete confidence. However, this came at the price of having little freedom, a price which grew much more oppressive when Edward died in 1910. Alexandra, now Queen Dowager, shut herself away in seclusion at Sandringham House, in Norfolk, England, her favourite home. Charlotte wrote in a letter dated a year before Alexandra's death in 1925:

"H.M. is so fond of Sandringham...she readily falls in with the doctor's advice that she should not tire herself with all the hurry and bustle of the Season...As far as I'm concerned, I am a "Cockney" "born and bred," and down here I can never see my friends and relations and seem quite cut off from all the world." (Letter to an unknown Gentleman; Private Manuscript collection)

Her leave of service came upon Alexandra's death in 1925. During her service, she was credited as the first woman private secretary to the Sovereign, and the first person not of royal blood to enter the Queen's boudoir without invitation. She was also presented with a gold medal after saving Alexandra from a fire.

Charlotte died in 1930.



Charlotte can be seen in many photographs of royal gatherings, almost always at Queen Alexandra's side. It was Charlotte who, like Princess Beatrice with Queen Victoria, carried out Alexandra's request to destroy many of her personal papers. Unlike Beatrice, she didn't leave even a rewritten version so much was lost to historians.

During her lifetime she took charge of all of QA's private correspondence and was the only person not of royal blood who could enter the Queen's boudoir without invitation and ad a pass key to the jewel safes.

[grandduchessella]

From The Marlborough House Set by Anita Leslie (Leonie's granddaughter):

'As their [Leonie & Arthur's] friendship lasted over forty years, and the Duke wrote to her almost every day....which all begin 'Beloved Leo' or 'Dearest One' and are signed 'Arthur' or 'Pat', which seems to have been a nickname between him and the married-into-Irish-nobility Leonie. Several hundred of the Duke's letters in boxes were handed by Leonie's son Seymour to King George VI,who placed them under seal until 1993...'

Leonie entered London society 'as the chic, graceful but not particulary pretty younger sister of a famous beauty...She was far too intelligent not to register the flickers of fleeting surprise, sometimes of disappointment, that the gorgeous Jennie had been followed by this elegant, lively but ordinary-looking chick.'

Ironically, Leonie's father had a relationship with a Mrs. Ronalds who was also courted by the Duke of Edinburgh.

After Leonie had borne 3 sons, society might have expected that she have the 'traditional fling' but 'whether she really lost her heart--she who had more heart than any woman I've ever known--I cannot be sure.' She certainly didn't lack for admirers though and she was especially drawn to those with musical and poetical leanings. Anita Leslie noted that her grandmother's gift was 'for helping people to deal with themselves. The exact words of the Duchess of Connaught to a younger member of the royal family were: 'Arthur and I never had any fun until we met Leonie'. '

The Duke and Duchess of Connaught weren't particuarly close to the Prince & Princess of Wales and rather left out of 'the frolics of the self-admiring Marlborough House set' and led rather a dull existance. 'It was quite a feat on the part of Leonie Leslie to open up an escape route into 'amusing society' from military duties and the openings of bazaars and asylums.' Leonie herself didn't possess a great estate or fortune and she gained entree into society through her family connections (primarily Jennie) and her own personality. 'he always made things go and in her company other human beings shone. She was though the wittiest woman in London...Her wit lay in the power of creating quick laughter.' Arthur had been regarded as rather 'heavy' but under Leonie's influence began to 'show his natural polish' to the extent that Lady Cynthia Asquith would assess him as 'the only gentleman royalty with manners and presence'. The Duke himself was said to have remarked that he 'never realized that he himself could dance well until he took the floor' with Leonie, who, like her sisters, was a fabulous dancer. The Duchess, meanwhile, 'began to blossom in this warm atmosphere' and said that Leonie 'could hand you a key to unlock your own shell'.

'It really was an extraordinary set-up, with the shy Duchess loking on, seeing it all, and only wanting to be cared for and understood. Of course Prince Arthur was in love with Leonie....but would it have suited her clear-cut, analytical temperament to be the mistress of a man whose wife called her best friend? And would her magic touch have lasted for nearly fifty years' if there was a physical relationship between Arthur and Leonie?

Certainly some of Arthur's letters (those not under seal) seem to indicate a strong relationship--he expresses his loneliness and longing for Leonie's 'beloved black head' and asks her not to 'make him miserable' by leaving London before he visits. Later letters, when he is stationed in Ireland, the tone isn't as frantic and the Leslies visited the Connaughts at their Dublin residence and the Connaughts rented a summer place near Castle Leslie. One wonders how Leonie dealt with the emotional situation during these particular years when HRH was so eager to overstep the boundary of devoted friendship. How did she manage to keep his adoration and the love of the Duchess without hurting either?' The surviving letters 'give the 'feeling' of the relationship. The Duke misses her terribly...She has taught him not to be cross adn to try to make others happy even when he is sad himself. He cannot resist unburdening his heart to the beloved friend. He owes her so much.'

In particular, Leonie tried to ease some of the troubles between him and his brother. Jennie (a close friend of the King) wrote to Leonie that she and the King talked of Leonie and 'also of the Duke...but not very kindly--I suppose really that he and the Duke are not on the best of terms'. By the time Edward died, the 2 had reconciled and he described his brother on his deathbed as looking calm and beautiful and natural. The height of the Duke's feelings for Leonie seem to have peaked during the period between 1898-1902. When Leonie felt that maybe she should distance herself, it was the Duchess who wrote her saying that she was 'happy and grateful' that Leonie cared for her and that she 'admired her power of self-denial, and missed her becasue she gave so much happiness'. She further wrote that Leonie couldn't leave, it would make the Duke miserable, and 'although it sometimes seemed difficult to know how to steer the right goal she had but to touch the chord of honour with the Duke and all was well'. These were signed 'Your ever grateful and affec. L.'.

[I don't know why the strike-through feature is activated on this.  ]

[grandduchessella]

As the overflow of emotion settled, the letters take on the more mundane tone of everyday royal life. Some are short notes delivered by footman--something Leonie appreciated as she told her granddaughter that if you care for someone, drop them a note--even a one-line one--every day. The letters are long and newsy and affectionate and tender, but not as ardent, in tone. She is not so much his 'own sweet love' as his 'dearest of friends'.

The Duke had taken an active interest in Leonie's children as well. He had intervened when her son Norman was challenged to a duel by an Egyptian Pasha with whom Norman was having assignations and helped to settle the situation to the satisfaction (and honor) of both parties. He also gave the young man, who was in the Army, a sword. Norman was carrying it when he fell in battle in 1915 and it lay in Flanders mud for almost 20 years until it was found by a farmer's wife who deciphered the engraving and returned it to the Duke who handed it to Leonie. To help assuage their grief, Leonie and Jack visited the Connaughts in Canada, where the Duke was Governor-General. Louise's health was beginning to fail and both she and Arthur appreciated Leonie's company. When the Duchess went through her final illness, it was Leonie who was asked by her to break the news to Arthur. 'I tried to comfort the Duke by telephone...and sit with him till Princess Louise and Queen Alexandra come--then he...is told. He seems stunned.'

Louise proves a strength and comfort in the years after Louise's death, followed 3 years later by the death of his daughter Daisy and later still by his only son, Arthur Jr. 'One of the sweetest notes the Duke wrote was almost the last--a firmly penned hope to 'Beloved Leo' that they will meet often in the coming year to enjoy the long friendship which they both can look back to wish so much gratitude. It is signed 'With Warmest love, ever your own devoted Pat'. ' Arthur would grow older and deafer and Leonie, 10 years younger, was very vigorous. They still 'lovingly' corresponded and she visited him (sometimes reluctantly due to his infirmities, by the end he needed an ear trumpet) weekly. She would bring her grandchildren on occasion and Anita recalls that 'we adored him in fact--but by now Leonie enjoyed the company of 'young men' such as Somerset Maugham and Noel Coward, and she sometimes got rather cross at the long drive...yet it was a duty from which she would not seek to disentangle herself.' (She would complain to Anita about his old tartan dressing gown that they were 'all sick of' but which Arthur stubbornly insisted on keeping.)

Arthur & Leonie

[Keith]

Does anyone know where Charlotte Knollys lived after Queen Alexandra's death?

[grandduchessella]

Her obituary remarked that while Ladies of the Household didn't receive pensions, the King provided for her. She moved to a flat on St Audley's Street where she lived out the few remaining years of her life. Her funeral was at the Chapel Royal, St James and she was buried in Highgate Cemetery. I'm not sure where everyone was at that point (spring 1930) but the only royal present was Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, Queen Alexandra's sister-in-law. George V, Queen Mary, the Prince of Wales, Duke of York, Princess Mary, Princess Victoria (who would've known Charlotte the best and longest), Princess Beatrice, the Duke of Connaught, Queen Maud and the King and Queen of Denmark all sent representatives. There was an auction after her death of various pieces of furniture and objects d'art.

[Leuchtenberg]

Lady Kennard and Lady Butter (daughters of that snobbish and draconian Zia Wernher) have known The Queen since she was a child and it is  thought they qualify as confidantes.  Lady Kennard had often leaked disparaging remarks to the Press about Diana, Princess of Wales.  Countess Mounbatten and Lady Pamela Hicks are also confidantes of The Queen.

The present Lord Brabourne, although related is one of Charles' closest friends and the only one of his circle of intimates who doesn't have to call him "Sir".  Another of Charles' confidantes is that slug Nicholas Soames.  (Am I allowed call him a slug even though he's still living?)

[ashdean]

Lady Kennard and Lady Butter (daughters of that snobbish and draconian Zia Wernher) have known The Queen since she was a child and it is  thought they qualify as confidantes.  Lady Kennard had often leaked disparaging remarks to the Press about Diana, Princess of Wales.  Countess Mounbatten and Lady Pamela Hicks are also confidantes of The Queen.

The present Lord Brabourne, although related is one of Charles' closest friends and the only one of his circle of intimates who doesn't have to call him "Sir".  Another of Charles' confidantes is that slug Nicholas Soames.  (Am I allowed call him a slug even though he's still living?)

Prince Philip was partially raised with the Werner girls as not only were they distant relatives (through the sister's Romanov grandfather) and had a mutual first cousin (David Milford Haven) but he was great friends with their brother (killed in WW2).The friendship has carried on into the next generation..Charles is friends with their offspring which includes the Duchesses of Westminster & Abercorn and the Countess of Dalhousie..

[Keith]

Thanks gdella. I've often wondered what happens to those who pretty much lived their lives with royalty after the royal person has died. It must be a little hard adjusting to a different lifestyle, especially if you are up there in years.