Lady Diana Bridgeman

Lady Diana Abdy, possibly by Lady Evelyn Moyne, 1934

Lady Helen Diana Abdy (née Bridgeman; 22 June 1907 – 7 May 1967) was an English socialite and fashion leader[1] included in The Book of Beauty by Cecil Beaton.[2]

Biography

Lady Helen Diana Bridgeman was born on 22 June 1907,[3][4] the daughter of Orlando Bridgeman, 5th Earl of Bradford, and the Hon. Margaret Cecilia Bruce.[1][3]

In 1922 she was the youngest bridesmaid at the wedding of Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, daughter of George V.[5]

In May 1923, a month short of her 19th birthday, she was introduced to the American socialite and anglophile Henry 'Chips' Channon. They met many times thereafter until her marriage. Although bisexual himself he was fascinated by her and wondered repeatedly whether to marry her. She designed the cover for his novel.[6]

On 10 February 1930 she married Sir Robert Henry Edward Abdy, 5th Baronet, son of Sir Henry Beadon Abdy, 4th Bt. and Anna Adele Coronna.[3] They had one son, Sir Valentine Robert Duff Abdy, 6th Baronet (1937–2012)[7] and divorced in 1962.[1][3] Sir Robert Abdy was an art authority who owned antique shops in London and Paris.[5] Lady Diana Bridgeman was also an artist;[5] in 1920 publisher Erskine MacDonald published The Poems & Paintings of the Lady Diana Bridgeman.[8] Her portrait posing as a painter by Harold Speed is at the Leamington Spa Gallery and Museum.[9]

In 1933 she was included, together with her sister, in The Book of Beauty by Cecil Beaton: "Lady Abdy is a more exotic edition of her (Rosamond Pinchot n.d.r.); leonine large and pale, sullen with flowing ash air and richly curving lips. Her movements are panther like, and in many other ways she resembles Greta Garbo."[2]

She died on 7 May 1967.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c "(Helen) Diana (Bridgeman), Lady Abdy". National Portrait Gallery, London.
  2. ^ a b Beaton, Cecil (1933). The Book Of Beauty. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999
  4. ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003
  5. ^ a b c "Marries Art Authority - 11 feb 1930". The Montreal Gazette. 1930. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  6. ^ Henry 'Chips'Channon: The Diaries 1918-1938 (Simon Heffer, ed.) London: PenguinRandom House, 217, see index for other meetings. Footnote 5 at 217 carries a biographical note about Bridgeman.
  7. ^ Adam and Charles Black Ltd. Who's Who 1975: An Annual Autobiographical Dictionary. London, U.K.: Adam and Charles Black, 1975
  8. ^ The Poems & Paintings of the Lady Diana Bridgeman. Erskine MacDonald. 1920.
  9. ^ "Speed Diana". Women in the Act of Painting. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2018.