Paul Ernest Boniface

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Paul Ernest Boniface (1867-1932)

Paul Ernest Boniface de Castellane (February 14, 1867 – October 20, 1932) was the Comte de Castellane.

1 Name
2 First marriage
3 Divorce
4 Residences
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Name

There are many variations of his name, all these are taken directly from news reports:

Paul Ernest Boniface de Castellane
Paul Ernest Boniface, Comte de Castellane
Count Boniface de Castellane
Le Comte Boni de Castellane

[edit] First marriage

He married Anna Gould (1875-1961), the daughter of Jay Gould, the robber baron, on March 14, 1895 in Manhattan, New York. They had the following children:

Marie Louise Boniface de Castellane (1896-?)
Antoine Boniface, Marquis de Castellane (1896-1946) who married Yvonne Patenôtre (daughter of Jules Patenôtre and wife Eleanor Elverson, sister of James Elverson, Jr. (– 1929) and daughter of publisher James Elverson (1838 – 1911) by wife Sallie Duvall, the three of them owners of The Philadelphia Inquirer), the parents of Elisabeth de Castellane (Paris, July 9, 1928 – Paris, November 13, 1991), wife (married in Paris, December 7, 1948) of Jean Bertrand Jacques Adrien Nompar Comte de Caumont La Force (Paris, February 4, 1920 – Fontaine Française, June 8, 1986), and had issue
Georges Paul Ernest Boniface de Castellane (1897 or 1899-1944) who married Florinda Fernández y Anchorena (1901-?), the parents of Diane Rose Anne Marie de Castellane (born in Paris, February 19, 1927), first wife (married in Paris (civ) April 14, 1948 (rel) April 20, 1948 and divorced March 13, 1974) of Philippe François Armand Marie Duc de Mouchy Prince-Duc de Poix (born in Paris, April 17, 1922), and had issue.
Georges Gustave Boniface de Castellane (circa 1898-1946)
Jay Boniface de Castellane (1902-?)

They divorced in 1906, after Boniface had spent about $10 million of her family's money. Boniface then sought an annulment from the Vatican. ^[1]

[edit] Divorce

Time magazine wrote on April 13, 1925:

Probably not since Henry VIII tried in vain to get an annulment of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon has a matrimonial case been so long in the courts of the Roman Catholic Church as that on which nine Cardinals have just handed down a final decision. The male in this case is the son of one of France's most historic houses − Le Comte Boni de Castellane. The female is the daughter of a United States stockbroker, the late Jay Gould − the present Anna, Marquise de Talleyrand Perigord, Duchesse de Sagan. On March 14, 1895, Anna became La Comtesse de Castellane by a marriage solemnized in Manhattan by the late Archbishop Corrigan. After three children were born, La Comtesse obtained a civil divorce from Le Comte on grounds of infidelity. In 1908, she married Le Marquis de Talleyrand Perigord, Duc de Sagan. Thereupon, Le Comte asked the Vatican to annul the marriage, apparently that he might be free to marry again, within the Church.

Trial I. The Roman Rota upheld the marriage in 1911. Le Comte appealed.

Trial II. Anna refused to be represented at this trial. The marriage was declared void. Anna appealed.

Trial III. The marriage was declared valid. Le Comte appealed from the Rota to Pope Benedict XV.

Trial IV. The case was laid before a Commission of the Apostolic Signatura − the supreme tribunal of the Church. Six cardinals composed the commission. They held the marriage valid. Le Comte appealed to Pope Pius XI.

Trial V. The Commission declared the marriage invalid. Anna appealed to the Pope who, to settle it once and forever, assigned three extra cardinals to the commission.

Trial VI was before Cardinals De Lai (Italian), Pompilj (Italian), Van Rossum (Dutch), Sbaretti (Italian), Silj (Italian), Bisleti (Italian), Sincere (Italian), Lega (Italian), Mori (Italian). The marriage was held valid. Formal proclamation will soon be issued.