San Francisco Public Library

Sheila, the Australian beauty who bewitched British society, Robert Wainwright

Label
Sheila, the Australian beauty who bewitched British society, Robert Wainwright
Language
eng
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
resource.biographical
individual biography
Illustrations
illustrationsportraitsplates
Index
index present
Literary Form
non fiction
Main title
Sheila
Nature of contents
bibliography
Oclc number
951498189
Responsibility statement
Robert Wainwright
Sub title
the Australian beauty who bewitched British society
Summary
Sheila wedded earls and barons, befriended literary figures and movie stars, bedded a future king, was feted by London and New York society for forty years and when she died was a Russian princess. Vivacious, confident and striking, Sheila Chisholm met her first husband, Francis Edward Scudamore St Clair - Erskine, a first lieutenant and son of the 5th Earl of Rosslyn, when she went to Egypt during the Great War to nurse her brother. Arriving in London as a young married woman, the world was at her feet - and she enjoyed it immensely. Edward, Prince of Wales, called her 'a divine woman' and his brother, Bertie, the future George VI of England (Queen Elizabeth's father), was especially close to her. She subsequently became Lady Milbanke and ended her days as Princess Dimitri of Russia. Sheila had torrid love affairs with Rudolph Valentino and Prince Obolensky of Russia and among her friends were Evelyn Waugh, Lord Beaverbrook and Wallis Simpson. An extraordinary woman unknown to most Australians, Sheila is a spellbinding story of a unique time and a place and an utterly fascinating life
Target audience
adult
resource.variantTitle
Australian beauty who bewitched British society
Classification
Mapped to