Margaret Greville

Dame Margaret Greville DBE
Greville photographed in 1900. Courtesy of theVictoria & Albert Museum,London
Born	Margaret Helen Anderson (1863-12-20)20 December 1863
Died	15 September 1942(1942-09-15)(aged 78) The Dorchester,London
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

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;and his mistress, Helen Anderson (1835/1836–1906), a cook, who was married to William Anderson, a porter at McEwan's brewery in Edinburgh.Following William Anderson's death in 1885, William McEwan married Helen later the same year, when Margaret was 21.

Life

In 1891, Margaret Anderson married the Hon.Ronald Greville(1864–1908). In 1906, her father purchasedPolesden LaceyinGreat Bookham,Surrey for her and her husband.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.

She was named a Dame Commander of theOrder of the British Empire(DBE) in 1922.

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.In 1934, Greville attended aNuremberg Rally,and returned to England reportedly "full of enthusiasm for Hitler".

Death and bequests

Greville and her husband had no children. She died in 1942, and is buried in the grounds of Polesden Lacey.

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.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".

She bequeathed all her jewels toQueen Elizabeth(later the Queen Mother), including a diamond necklace reputedly belonging toMarie Antoinette,a pair of diamond chandelier earringsand selection of tiaras and a ruby necklace by Boucheron,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.

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.

Margret Greville's society portrait, which hangs on theloggiastaircase at her country seat,Polesden LaceyinSurrey.

Another tiara, the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara, was worn byPrincess Eugenieat herweddingtoJack Brooksbankin October 2018.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.

Greville also left £20,000 toPrincess Margaret(equivalent to £1,177,390 in 2023), and £25,000 toQueen Victoria Eugenia of Spain.

Reputation

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".

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".

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!' "

Bibliography

• 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

• Royal Magazine
• ""Uncouth Australians "".Time Magazine.9 May 1927. Archived fromthe originalon 30 September 2007.Retrieved10 August2008.