| Princess Marina Torlonia | |
|---|---|
| Spouse | Frank Shields Edward Slater |
| Issue | |
| Francis Alexander Shields Marina Shields Edward Slater |
|
| Father | Marino Torlonia, 4th prince of Civitella-Cesi |
| Mother | Mary Elsie Moore |
| Born | 22 October 1916 Rome, Italy |
| Died | 15 September 1960 (aged 43) Piacenza, Italy |
Marina Torlonia, Princesa di Civitelli-Cesi (October 22, 1916 – September 15, 1960) was an Italian-American socialite and aristocrat best known as the paternal grandmother of the actress and model Brooke Shields.
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Torlonia was born in Rome, at Palazzo Núñez-Torlonia), the youngest daughter of Marino Torlonia, 4th prince of Civitella-Cesi[1] and his wife, Mary Elsie Moore, a daughter of Charles Arthur Moore, a shipping broker and hardware manufacturer from Connecticut.[2][3] Her brother was Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi, the husband of Infanta Beatriz of Spain (an aunt of King Juan Carlos I of Spain).[4]
The Torlonia family was one of the richest Italian families of the 19th century, gaining its fortune in the administration of Vatican finances. Through Olimpia Giustiniani, Torlonia is a descendant of Olimpia Maidalchini making her a niece (many generations after) of Maidalchini's brother-in-law, Pope Innocent X and a descendant of Olimpia Guistiniani's husband's family, the Barberini.
Marina Torlonia's first husband was Francis Xavier Shields (1909–1975), the American amateur tennis player, whom she met in Rome at a tennis championship.[5] They married in 1940, in North Conway, New Hampshire.[6] The Shields' had two children: Francis Alexander Shields (the father of the actress and model Brooke Shields) and a daughter, Marina Shields. They later divorced.
Her second husband, whom she married on 29 December 1950, was Edward W. Slater, an architect,[7] by whom she had a son, Edward (born 1955).
Princess Marina Torlonia-Slater died on September 15, 1960, in an automobile accident in Piacenza, Italy, shortly after leaving a friend's wedding. She was 43 years old.[8]