Audrey Evelyn James Coats

Audrey Evelyn James Coats
Coats, Tatler cover, 1925
Born
Audrey Evelyn James

21 April 1902
Died14 February 1968
Spouses
Muir Dudley Coats
​
​
(m. 1922; died 1927)​
​
​
(m. 1930; div. 1934)​
Hon. Peter Pleydell-Bouverie
​
​
(m. 1938; div. 1946)​
Parent(s)Evelyn Elizabeth Forbes
William Dodge James
The 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon (biological father)
RelativesEdward VII (grandfather)
Edward James (brother)

Audrey Evelyn James (married names Coats, Field, and Pleydell-Bouverie) (21 April 1902 – 14 February 1968) was an English socialite included in The Book of Beauty by Cecil Beaton.[1] Through her mother she was allegedly the illegitimate granddaughter of King Edward VII, and she herself was the illegitimate daughter of The 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon.

Early life

Audrey Evelyn James was born on 21 April 1902, officially the daughter of William Dodge James and Evelyn Elizabeth Forbes.[2] Her siblings are Helen Millicent Howard; Alexandra Maud Venetia Fawcus; Silvia Helena Sophia Wilson; and Edward James.[3]

Edward James, in his memoirs, claims that rather than being the son of Edward VII, he was his grandson, his grandmother having had an affair with the Prince of Wales. William Dodge James was undisturbed by this, as he remained on receiving an anonymous letter telling him that Audrey James was not his daughter. Audrey's biological father was alleged to be Sir Edward Grey, who was later created The 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, the British Liberal statesman and Foreign Secretary.[4]

Personal life

On 25 March 1922 Audrey James married Muir Dudley Coats, son of Sir Stuart Auchincloss Coats, 2nd Bt. and Jane Muir Greenlees. Before his death, they were the parents of one son:

  • Peter Coats (1923–1923), who died at 4 days old.[2]

On 18 August 1930 she married Marshall Field III and in 1933 she was included in The Book of Beauty by Cecil Beaton.[1] In 1930, they went on a private game hunting expedition to Africa and obtained several lion specimens from the expedition. [5] She and her husband were divorced in Reno, Nevada in 1934.[6]

In January 1936, it was reported that she had adopted a one year-old boy as her son.[7]

On 25 November 1938 she married Hon. Peter Pleydell-Bouverie, son of Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 6th Earl of Radnor and Julian Eleanor Adelaide Balfour.[8] They divorced in 1946.[2]

She died on 14 February 1968.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Beaton, Cecil (1933). The Book Of Beauty. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003
  3. ^ "The James Family" (PDF). OrnaVerum. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  4. ^ Carpenter, Humphrey (2013). The Brideshead Generation: Evelyn Waugh and His Friends. Faber & Faber. p. 22. ISBN 9780571309283. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  5. ^ James Coats, Audrey Evelyn. "African Animals (Reel 1)". Field Museum Library Digital Collections. Field Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  6. ^ Reynolds, Ruth (4 Nov 1934). "Unlucky for Him? But Second Mrs. Field Won't Get $1,000,000 a Year, as Did the First". New York Daily News. p. 82. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Audrey James Coats Field Adopts Baby Boy". New York Daily News. 5 Jan 1936. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  8. ^ "Weds in London". Chicago Tribune. 27 Nov 1938. Retrieved 13 May 2019.