L'immortale Helen Lewis:
La bellezza americana che divenne duchessa di Croÿ e poi nuora dell'ammiraglio Miklós Horthy
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| Elena, duchessa di Croÿ (nata Lewis) |
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| La madre di Helen, Jane “Jennie” Bromley Lindsay Lewis nel 1941. |
Il 22 ottobre 1924, Helen Lindsay Lewis (n. Albany, New York 14 febbraio 1898) divenne la seconda moglie del duca Karl Rudolf di Croÿ (1889-1974). Helen era la figlia di Thompson Howard Lewis (1869-1947), che lavorava per la Mutual Life Insurance Company a New York, e di sua moglie Jane "Jennie" Bromley Lindsay (1871 - ?), figlia di David Lindsay ed Ella Augusta Bromley (1847-1910). La coppia si sposò con una cerimonia a Monaco. Questo fu il primo matrimonio per Helen; per Karl Rudolf, fu il secondo. Dal 1913 al 1922 era stato sposato con Nancy Leishman (1894-1983). Dal suo primo matrimonio, il duca di Croÿ ebbe tre figli: Carl (1914-2011), Antoinette (1915-2011) e Marie-Luise (n. 1919).  |
| Elisabetta, Baronessa du Moray (nata Lewis) |
La duchessa Helen of Croÿ aveva una sorella minore, Elizabeth Willoughby Lewis (n. Albany, NY 9 luglio 1901). Nel 1928, Elizabeth si era fidanzata con il barone Jean Le Couteulx du Moray (1886-1946), figlio del barone Jacques Le Couteulx du Moray. Sebbene Elizabeth non fosse innamorata di Jean e il loro fidanzamento fosse stato interrotto almeno una volta, sia la sorella di Elizabeth, Helen, sia il cognato Karl Rudolf erano ansiosi che l'unione avesse luogo. Il duca e la duchessa di Croÿ convinsero Elizabeth a procedere con le nozze e la più giovane Miss Lewis fu debitamente unita al barone Jean Le Couteulx du Molay (1886-1946) il 21 marzo 1929 a Parigi. Come accadde, il barone du Moray era un tossicodipendente e lui ed Elizabeth divorziarono il 16 aprile 1935.
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| Elena, duchessa di Croÿ |
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| Carlo Rodolfo, duca di Croÿ |
In 1930, a divorce action was initiated by Duchess Helen of Croÿ to terminate her marriage with Duke Karl Rudolf. According to press reports at the time, one of the reasons that Helen cited for ending the union was that an Austrian Archduchess (who was never named) had been soliciting the attentions of the Duke of Croÿ. Interestingly, even though the contents of the case were sealed, it was alleged that one of the reasons that the marriage of Duke Karl Rudolf and his first wife Nancy ended in 1922 was due to the interference of the very same archduchess. Karl Rudolf and Helen, the Duke and Duchess of Croÿ, were divorced in 1931; they had no children.
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| Helen, Duchess of Croÿ |
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| Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya II |
On 22 December 1956, Helen Lewis, former Duchess of Croÿ, married Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya II (1907-1993) in Edinburgh, Scotland. By this time, Helen had reinvented herself as Helen Margot Lindsay-Lewis (b.Puerto Madryn, Argentina 14 February 1916); the new bride thus made herself almost twenty years younger. Helen’s second husband was the youngest child of Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya (1868-1957), the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, and Magdolna Vilma Benedikta Purgly de Jószáshely (1881-1959).
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| Admiral Miklós Horthy de Nagybány, Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary |
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| Magdolna Purgly de Jószáshely |
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| Countess Maria Consuelo Károlyi de Nagykároly |
In 1927, Miklós II married Countess Maria Consuelo Károlyi de Nagykároly (1905-1976); the couple had two children: Zsófia Horthy de Nagybanya (1928-2004) and Nicolette Horthy de Nagybanya (1929-1990). Miklós and Maria Consuelo eventually divorced; it was after this marital rupture that Miklós married Helen Lewis.
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| Helen Lewis, Duchess of Croÿ, Mrs Miklós Horthy de Nagybanya II |
Helen and Miklós Horthy did not have any children. On 23 March 1993, Miklós passed away in Portugal at the age of eighty-five. For decades, genealogists had an impossible time attempting to find when Helen Lewis had died. Due to her seemingly “immortal” status, the former Duchess of Croÿ was deemed to be a “Vampire of the Gotha.”
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| Helen’s Hungarian sister-in-law: Countesss Ilona Edelsheim-Gyulai de Marosnémethi et Nádaska |
In 2016, Dutch royal historian and genealogist Netty Leistra discovered that Helen had passed away in December 1976 at Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Helen would have been seventy-eight years-old. Countess Ilona Edelsheim-Gyulai de Marosnémethi et Nádaska, the sister-in-law of Miklós and wife of his brother István, recalled in her memoirs: “They did not always live in complete harmony, but when Helen got sick, Nicky [Miklós] nurtured her devotedly, and when she died, he became completely shattered.”
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| The resting place of Miklós Horthy II |
After his death, Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya II was buried at the Horthy family crypt at Kenderes, Hungary. The final resting place of Helen Lewis is not known.
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