L'immortale Helen Lewis:
La bellezza americana che divenne duchessa di Cro每 e poi nuora dell'ammiraglio Mikl贸s Horthy
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| Elena, duchessa di Cro每 (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 Cro每 (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 spos貌 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 Cro每 ebbe tre figli: Carl (1914-2011), Antoinette (1915-2011) e Marie-Luise (n. 1919).  |
| Elisabetta, Baronessa du Moray (nata Lewis) |
La duchessa Helen of Cro每 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 Cro每 convinsero Elizabeth a procedere con le nozze e la pi霉 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 Cro每 |
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| Carlo Rodolfo, duca di Cro每 |
In 1930, a divorce action was initiated by Duchess Helen of Cro每 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 Cro每. 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 Cro每, were divorced in 1931; they had no children.
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| Helen, Duchess of Cro每 |
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| Mikl贸s Horthy de Nagyb谩nya II |
On 22 December 1956, Helen Lewis, former Duchess of Cro每, married Mikl贸s Horthy de Nagyb谩nya 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 Mikl贸s Horthy de Nagyb谩nya (1868-1957), the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, and Magdolna Vilma Benedikta Purgly de J贸sz谩shely (1881-1959).
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| Admiral Mikl贸s Horthy de Nagyb谩ny, Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary |
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| Magdolna Purgly de J贸sz谩shely |
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| Countess Maria Consuelo K谩rolyi de Nagyk谩roly |
In 1927, Mikl贸s II married Countess Maria Consuelo K谩rolyi de Nagyk谩roly (1905-1976); the couple had two children: Zs贸fia Horthy de Nagybanya (1928-2004) and Nicolette Horthy de Nagybanya (1929-1990). Mikl贸s and Maria Consuelo eventually divorced; it was after this marital rupture that Mikl贸s married Helen Lewis.
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| Helen Lewis, Duchess of Cro每, Mrs Mikl贸s Horthy de Nagybanya II |
Helen and Mikl贸s Horthy did not have any children. On 23 March 1993, Mikl贸s 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 Cro每 was deemed to be a “Vampire of the Gotha.”
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| Helen’s Hungarian sister-in-law: Countesss Ilona Edelsheim-Gyulai de Marosn茅methi et N谩daska |
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 Marosn茅methi et N谩daska, the sister-in-law of Mikl贸s and wife of his brother Istv谩n, recalled in her memoirs: “They did not always live in complete harmony, but when Helen got sick, Nicky [Mikl贸s] nurtured her devotedly, and when she died, he became completely shattered.”
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| The resting place of Mikl贸s Horthy II |
After his death, Mikl贸s Horthy de Nagyb谩nya 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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