Introduction

 

Society Divas

Lillie Langtry

The High Society Express wasn’t running on a full schedule when Lillie Langtry was born Emilie Charlotte LeBreton in October 1853. Certainly on the Isle of Jersey, nestled between the English mainland and the French coast, the Express didn’t stop there at all.

Emilie LeBreton was born into a proper family of high standing in Jersey.  Her father was the Very Reverend LeBreton and her mother, Emilie, raised the younger Emilie and her six brothers with a loose hand. The children were raised by various governesses and taught the usual sports mixed with a classical education. Emilie, being the only girl, was plunged into the mix and developed an enthusiasm for intelligence, horses and sport at an early age.

To the consternation of her conservative father, Emilies’ beauty developed early and soon was one of the most captivating girls in Jersey. Her red hair, blue eyes and porcelain skin was standard English fare but her pure beauty and mischievous nature was uncommon and she received her first marriage proposal at age fourteen. Now called Lillie by all, her popularity reached a peak when she met Edward Langtry in 1874. He had means, but was not very wealthy, although he did have a beautiful yacht, the Red Gauntlet.

Apparently, Lillie LeBreton fell in love with the yacht but not the man as she saw this as a means of escape from the confines of Jersey. They married and immediately moved to his home in Southampton. It was an escape of sorts but still not the glittering life the new Mrs. Langtry hoped to lead; Edward would go off to fish and to drink, leaving Lillie alone most of the time. Soon thereafter, Lillie developed typhoid fever and she and her besotted doctor hatched a scheme that would change her life. The doctor convinced Edward Langtry that Lillie would recover much faster if they moved to London. In 1876 London was the largest city in the world and very expensive. But if it would please his beautiful, sickly wife, then Edward Langtry would sell his beloved Red Gauntlet to finance a move. Thus, the Diva was born.

Coinciding with their move to a middle-class London neighborhood, Lillie’s favorite brother, Reggie, was killed in a freak horse accident. She made a quick trip to Jersey and returned to London in full mourning. During this period fate intervened.  She and Edward were visiting a museum where they ran into old family friends, the 7th Viscount Ranalegh, Jersey inhabitants who spent the season in London. The Langtrys were invited to a party at the Ranalegh’s fashionable home. Edward Langtry was not much of a mixer, but Lillie, fully recovered from her illness and very bored, desired a change so she convinced Edward to go. Still in mourning for her brother, Lillie arrived with Edward at the party wearing a plain, figure-hugging black dress. Amid all the colorful costumes of the London society ladies, Lillie Langtry was a sight for sore eyes. Immediately, the artists Frank Miles and Edward Milliais who were also guests at the party, sought out the ethereal beauty and both asked if they could paint her portrait. Frank Miles, a very popular painter of the era made a line drawing of her on the spot, thus immortalizing her moment of discovery. Not only was Lillie beautiful, it was soon discovered that she read a lot and had opinions on many subjects, making her not just another pretty face. It was hard not to be enchanted by her and she was the hit of the party. The High Society Express had left the station for the fast track with Lillie Langtry aboard. She was on her way.

The next morning the invitations poured in. One treasured invite came from Winston Churchill and his American-born wife Jenny Jerome, leaders of English high society and parents of the future Prime Minister. Edward Langtry, still a social curmudgeon, agreed to attend but persisted in badgering Lillie on spending their small funds on new clothes. Lillie simplified matters by altering her black mourning dress creating a whole new look. At the party she met James McNeill Whistler and Oscar Wilde and they hung on her every word. Soon thereafter, penny postcards of her earlier line drawing by Frank Miles became available to the public and she instantly became known as a Professional Beauty, a popular term at the time and the earliest incarnation of the Diva - a woman of few attributes other than getting exactly what she desired. The effect was mesmerizing and Lillie Langtry became a star in London, mobbed wherever she and Edward went – which was everywhere that one should be seen.

Edward Milliais had Lillie sit for her portrait and insisted she wear the black dress from their first meeting. He also had her hold a crimson lily, a flower native to Jersey. Called “A Jersey Lilly” the name became synonymous with Lillie Langtry forever. The portrait was hung at the Royal Academy, soon nominated Portrait of the Year and had to be roped off because of the crowds eager to see whom Milliais called “the most beautiful woman on earth.”

At a more crested peak than the Churchills were “The Marlborough Set” of whom its leader was the future King of England, Albert Edward the Prince of Wales. It was inevitable the two would be introduced and the meeting was magic.  With her husband seated at the other end of the table, Prince Albert, “Bertie” to his friends, was captivated by the lovely Jersey Lillie. She was beautiful, witty and possessed a keen intelligence not held by the women of her day. The Prince was a well-known philanderer and the two embarked upon an affair. His wife, the Princess Alexandra, knew of his dalliances but dutifully looked the other way.

An open secret, Lillie Langtry became Prince Albert’s’ official mistress. Designers heaped free clothes on her so she never had to worry her husband with that expense. They were given a gilded coach so the Langtrys could travel to each party in style.  Appreciated by the men, Lillie was not so coveted by the women, but was nonetheless invited to all social events as everywhere that Lillie went, the Prince was sure to go. The High Society Express was moving full steam ahead and Lillie couldn’t be happier.  She was often known as “The Langtry Phenomenon.”  The Diva was in full flower.

The press couldn’t get enough of her. She was written about on a daily basis and the public was eager to see what she would do next. George Bernard Shaw was quoted as saying, “I resent Mrs. Langtry, she has no right to be intelligent, daring and independent, as well as lovely.” Oscar Wilde, great wit of the day and a bit of a Diva himself, once said “I would rather have discovered Lillie Langtry than America.”  Princess Alexandra, often viewed as the long-suffering wife, soon met Lillie and the two developed a caring, friendly relationship. A quality not often found in the Other Woman, but a secret weapon used much to Mrs. Langtry’s credit. It gave her a special cachet that might otherwise have left her merely tolerated by the women of high society.  Soon thereafter, Lillie was presented at court to Bertie’s mother, Queen Victoria. The Queen’s reaction was never recorded but it was said that she personally removed a picture of Mrs. Langtry from above the bed of her youngest son, Prince Leopold.

The Prince bought a royal love nest for the couple in a secluded area near Bournemouth, far removed from the London reporters that dogged their every move. The two were very happy there, with Edward Langtry now delegated back to his home in Southampton, rapidly becoming an alcoholic of the first order.  An interesting feature of the house was the date “1881” etched in a stained glass window, commemorating the birth of Lillie’s only child, Jeanne Marie, who rumor has it was fathered by Prince Albert’s nephew, Prince Louis of Battenberg. The real father was never revealed to the public or her family and Jeanne Marie was raised back in Jersey by Lillie’s mother. She was brought up as Lillie’s niece and was only told the real story on the eve of her own wedding day to a Scottish nobleman.  

 

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