Daisy, Princess of Pless
Mary Theresa Olivia Cornwallis - West called Daisy ( born June 28, 1873 Ruthin Castle, Wales, United Kingdom, † June 29, 1943 in Waldenburg ) was by marriage Princess of Pless, Countess of Hochberg and free woman Fürstenstein and the first High Society Lady of the European aristocracy.
Origin
Daisy was the eldest daughter of the British Colonel William Cornwallis - West (1835-1917) and his wife Mary FitzPatrick (1856-1920), was born. Together with her younger siblings, she grew up in Ruthin Castle and Town House in London.
- George Cornwallis - West (1874-1951), officer of the Scots Guards
- Constance Edwina († 1970)
Marriage and children
On December 8, 1891, she married in London later Prince Hans Heinrich XV. of Pless (1861-1938), son of Prince Hans Heinrich XI. (1833-1907) and his first wife, Marie von Kleist ( 1828-1883 ). The marriage produced three sons were born:
- Hans Heinrich ( born February 2, 1900 in Berlin, † January 26, 1984 in London)
- Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm ( born February 1, 1905 in London, † February 22, 1984 in Mallorca )
- Bolko Konrad Friedrich ( born September 23, 1910 in Berlin - † June 22, 1936 in Pless, Silesia)
Life
Daisy, Lady of the immense estates of the family in Silesia and generous host to the magnificent castles Fürstenstein and Pless, fixed star of the Company before the First World War, a friend of the most powerful men of her time, such as the German Emperor Wilhelm II and the British King Edward VII their invitations were a "must " and hunting societies, the most exclusive at all. Among the close friends included the Queen of Romania, but also her sister Victoria Melita was often to visit, as well as her sister Constance, who, 2nd Duke of Westminster was married, with one of the richest men of Great Britain, Hugh Grosvenor, with much you traveled. Despite all efforts, after her marriage " to be a good 's subject of my new country," Daisy of Pless always felt a British sense of superiority against Germany, which they clearly did in their written after her divorce memoirs expressed. So she wrote about in her work "Dance on a Volcano ", among other things:
"But Germany at that time was primitive. When I left England, with its beautiful and comfortable life (now, Germany has to a certain extent imitated ), I thought: Do I really live in this uncivilized land? If this is to be my home? But I got used to take everything from the jocular since. "
In addition to the social gloss is the reputation which Daisy of Pless acquired through its projects in the social and health among the working population of Silesia. When at the beginning of the First World War, political and family circumstances forced them to abandon Książ as a permanent resident, the princess had a number of social innovations and successful reform projects back, all communities, but especially the working women and mothers, disabled children and the needlepoint industry Silesian mountains had successfully promoted. Although suspended since August 1914 permanent political hostility, Daisy worked as a Red Cross nurse on hospital trains in France and experienced the war ended in an Austrian hospital in Serbia.
On December 12, 1922, Daisy divorced in Berlin. In the following years she published several memoirs. Lonely by chronic illness and social isolation, she passed away in 1943 and in great poverty in Waldenburg.