Margaret Greville
Margaret Greville | |
---|---|
![]() Greville photographed in 1900. Courtesy of theVictoria & Albert Museum,London | |
Born | Margaret Helen Anderson 20 December 1863 |
Died | 15 September 1942 The Dorchester,London | (aged 78)
Nationality | British |
Occupation(s) | Society hostessandphilanthropist |
Spouse | The Hon.Ronald Greville |
Dame Margaret Helen Greville,DBE(néeAnderson; 20 December 1863 – 15 September 1942), was a Britishsociety hostessand philanthropist. She was the wife of the Hon.Ronald Greville(1864–1908).
Family background
[edit]BornMargaret Helen Anderson,she was the daughter ofWilliam McEwan(1827–1913), a brewery multimillionaire, later elected as an M.P. (Member of Parliament) forEdinburgh Central;[1][2]and his mistress, Helen Anderson (1835/1836–1906), a cook, who was married to William Anderson, a porter at McEwan's brewery in Edinburgh.[3]Following William Anderson's death in 1885, William McEwan married Helen later the same year, when Margaret was 21.[citation needed]
Life
[edit]In 1891, Margaret Anderson married the Hon.Ronald Greville(1864–1908). In 1906, her father purchasedPolesden LaceyinGreat Bookham,Surrey for her and her husband.[4]Her husband died two years later, and her father (who also lived at Polesden Lacey) in 1913. Margaret became known at Polesden Lacey as asociety hostess;and was a close friend ofQueen Mary.She received proposals of marriage from SirEvelyn Ruggles-Briseand (in 1917) from SirJohn Simon,but declined both.[3][5]
She was named a Dame Commander of theOrder of the British Empire(DBE) in 1922.[6]
Writing in 1933, Jean, wife ofSir Ian Hamiltonwrote that at a dinner,Violet Bonham-Carterhad "a violent discussion" with Greville about how Hitler was threatening Jewish people.[7]In 1934, Greville attended aNuremberg Rally,and returned to England reportedly "full of enthusiasm for Hitler".[8]
Death and bequests
[edit]Greville and her husband had no children. She died in 1942, and is buried in the grounds of Polesden Lacey.[citation needed]
She bequeathed the house with its contents (described in an inventory completed in 1943) and estate at Polesden Lacey to theNational Trustin memory of her father.[4]Among the various items, paintings and other works are generally referred to as the "McEwan bequest", and are listed on theArt UKwebsite with the text "bequeathed with Polesden Lacey by Dame Margaret Greville, in memory of her father William McEwan, 1942".[citation needed]
She bequeathed all her jewels toQueen Elizabeth(later the Queen Mother), including a diamond necklace reputedly belonging toMarie Antoinette,a pair of diamond chandelier earrings[9]and selection of tiaras and a ruby necklace by Boucheron,[10]all of which remain in the possession of the British royal family. The jewellery was presented in a black tin box. To this day, the full extent of the collection is still not known.[11]
One notable item of jewellery is the honeycomb-patterned diamond tiara (often referred to as the "Greville Tiara" ) which was a favourite of the Queen Mother, and in recent years has been worn frequently byQueen Camilla.[12]
![A portrait of Margret Greville that hangs at her home.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Margret_Greville_Portrait.jpg/220px-Margret_Greville_Portrait.jpg)
Another tiara, the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara, was worn byPrincess Eugenieat herweddingtoJack Brooksbankin October 2018.[13]The platinum and diamond tiara was made by Parisian jewellerBoucheronin 1919. It features a 93.70 caratcabochoncutemeraldin the centre surrounded by a halo of rose cut diamonds and six smaller emeralds graduating either side of the large central emerald.[14]
Greville also left £20,000 toPrincess Margaret(equivalent to £1,177,390 in 2023), and £25,000 toQueen Victoria Eugenia of Spain.[15]
Reputation
[edit]Following Greville's death, Queen Elizabeth, who inherited the bulk of Greville's huge collection of jewellery, described her as "so shrewd, so kind and so amusingly unkind, so sharp, such fun, so naughty; altogether a real person, a character, utterly Mrs Ronald Greville".[16]
By contrast, SirCecil Beatondescribed her as "a galumphing, greedy, snobbish old toad who watered at her chops at the sight of royalty... and did nothing for anybody except the rich".[17]
James Lees-Milne,in his diaries, commented: "Everyone is agog to hear the terms of Mrs G's will. She was a lady who loved the great because they were great, and apparently had a tongue dipped in gall. I remember oldLady Leslieexclaiming, 'Maggie Greville! I would sooner have an open sewer in my drawing room!' "[18]
References
[edit]- ^"Dr. William McEwan: Overview of Dr. William McEwan".Scottish-places.info.Retrieved29 March2016.
- ^Donnachie, Ian (2004). "McEwan, William (1827–1913)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50416.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^abDavenport-Hines 2015.
- ^ab"History of Polesden Lacey".National Trust.Retrieved27 February2010.
- ^Dutton, David (1992).Simon: a political biography of Sir John Simon.London: Aurum Press. pp. 325–26.ISBN1854102044.
- ^"No. 32583".The London Gazette.20 January 1922. p. 549.
- ^Lee, Celia (14 December 2020).Jean, Lady Hamilton, 1861–1941: Diaries of A Soldier's Wife.Pen and Sword Military. p. 348.ISBN978-1-5267-8661-6.
- ^Bouverie, Tim (18 April 2019).Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War.Random House. pp. vii.ISBN978-1-4735-4775-9.
- ^"A Royal Wedding".Royal Collection. 20 November 1947.Retrieved29 March2016.
- ^"A Royal Wedding".Royal Collection. 24 October 1907.Retrieved29 March2016.
- ^"The mystery of Mrs Greville's jewellery".National Trust.Retrieved1 October2019.
- ^"Best Royal Family Jewelry of All Time".10 October 2018.
- ^"The History Behind Princess Eugenie's Emerald and Diamond Wedding Day Tiara".Vogue.Retrieved13 October2018.
- ^Royce-Greensill, Sarah (12 October 2018)."Who was Margaret Greville, the socialite who originally owned Princess Eugenie's wedding tiara?".The Telegraph.ISSN0307-1235.Retrieved1 October2019.
- ^Lees-Milne, James(1984) [1975].Ancestral Voices.London: Faber. p. 122.ISBN0571133258.
- ^Bradford, Sarah (1989).King George VI.London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. p. 111.ISBN9780297796671.
- ^Buckle, Richard, ed. (1979).Self-portrait with Friends: selected diaries of Cecil Beaton.London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. pp. 215–16.ISBN0297776584.
- ^Bloch, Michael, ed. (2006).Diaries: 1942-1954.London: John Murray.ISBN0719566800.
Bibliography
[edit]- Davenport-Hines, Richard(2015) [2004]. "Greville [née Anderson], Dame Margaret Helen (1863–1942)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/51986.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Royal Magazine
- ""Uncouth Australians "".Time Magazine.9 May 1927. Archived fromthe originalon 30 September 2007.Retrieved10 August2008.