Daisy, Princess of Pless
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Daisy, Princess of Pless, born Mary-Theresa Olivia Cornwallis-West (28 June 1873-29 June 1943) was a noted society beauty in the Edwardian period.
She was born at Ruthin Castle, the daughter of Col. William Cornwallis Cornwallis-West (1835-1917) and his wife Mary, née FitzPatrick (1856-1920).
On 8 December 1891, in London, she married Hans Heinrich XV, Prince of Pless, Count of Hochberg, Baron of Fürstenstein (1861-1938), one of the wealthiest heirs in the German Empire, becoming hostess of Castle Fürstenstein in Silesia. They had three children:
- Hans Heinrich XVII, 4th Prince of Pless (1900-1984).
- Alexander, 5th Prince of Pless (1905-1984).
- Count Bolko Konrad Friedrich of Hochberg (1910-1936).
During her marriage she became a social reformer, and militated for peace with her friends William II, German Emperor and King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. During World War I she served as a nurse.
After her divorce at Berlin on 12 December 1922 she published a series of memoirs that were widely read in the United Kingdom, the United States, and, in German language, on Continental Europe.
The Prince of Pless married as his second wife, at London on 25 January 1925 Clotilde de Silva y Gonzalez de Candamo (1898-1978). This marriage produced two children, and was annulled in 1934. Subsequently Clotilde married the third son of Daisy and the Prince, Bolko, and was the mother of their only grandchildren.
Daisy's brother George Frederick Myddelton Cornwallis-West married Jenny Jerome, the mother of Winston Churchill, as his first wife, and married Mrs. Patrick Campbell, the actress, as his second. Her sister, Constance Edwina Cornwallis-West, married Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, and Fitzpatrick Lewes.
Daisy, Princess of Pless died at Waldenburg.
[edit] References
- Princess Daisy of Pless, Princess Daisy of Pless by Herself, London, John Murray, 1929.
- Princess Daisy of Pless, Better Left Unsaid, New York: Dutton, 1931.
- Princess Daisy of Pless, What I Left Unsaid, New York: Cassell, 1936.
- Princess Daisy of Pless, The Private Diaries of Princess Daisy of Pless - 1813 - 1974, D. Chapman-Huston, editor, London: John Murray, 1950.
- Koch, John, Daisy Princess of Pless 1873-1943: A Discovery, W. John Koch Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0973157909
