..(is anyone keeping count?) with bachelor George Baird (Squire Abington of Scotland) whom she met in 1887. He had vast estates and a large horse breeding business with a racing stable and more money than he knew what to do with. He had inherited from his grandfather who had made …
Author: Silhouettes
Langtry had another affair with an American…
…from 1882 to 1891. She had divorced her husband Langtry in 1887 and gotten US citizenshp that same year. Frederick Gebhard was 22 and Lillie was 29 when they met. He was supposedly a lover of feminine beauty and horses. His wealth was inherited from a grandfather on his mother’s …
Lillie Langtry performed in the US and London..
…after very interesting ups and downs and more affairs. She hit the stage in the US and London over and over since her New York debut in 1882. In 1889 she played Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”. In 1902, she starred in “The Crossways”. She toured the US in 1906 …
As we are telling Lillie’s story, pay attention to what she is..
… wearing. We’ll talk about Alix, the tolerant wife of King Edward (while he was having an affair with Lillie) and her fashion influence as 1900 approached – and – will tie in the fashion features Lillie was introducing in a few days. Here’s a “test” for you who have …
In need of money, Langtry’s friend Oscar Wilde…
… suggested she try acting on the stage, and it kicked off her theatre career. She started in an amateur production of a comedy called “A Fair Encounter” with Henrietta Labouchere playing the other leading role and coaching Langtry on how to act. Following positive reviews, she made a London …
In 1880, Lillie had 2 more affairs..
.. one with the Bishop of Shrewsbury which became the source of gossip and scandal, and almost caused her divorce. With the withdrawal of Royal favor, even though the Prince supported her career, the Langtrys could not afford the lush lifestyle they had come to love. A later discovery of …
Lillie’s affair with the Prince lasted 3 years…
.. from late 1877 to June 1880. Although they remained friends, her physical relationship ended with him when she became pregnant. No one knows who the father was, although most historians suspect it was her old friend Arthur Jones who accompanied her to Paris to have the baby. She had …
The fashion icon of the late 1870s & early 1880s…
..Lillie Langtry’s nickname, the “Jersey Lily”, was taken from the symbol of her home in Jersey, the Jersey lily flower. Painter Millais called his portrait of her “A Jersey Lily” and the name stuck. It was so popular when exhibited at the Royal Academy that they had to rope off …
Lillie’s jump into Society…
…was spurred on by the admiration and imagination of the men she met. She recounted her introduction to fame in an interview in 1882 with a London newspaper: “It was through Lord Raneleigh and the painter Frank Miles that I was first introduced to London society … I went to …
Lillie Langtry jumped right into London society..
.. taking it by storm. In 1877 Lillie’s brother had married Alice, the illegitimate daughter of Thomas Jones, the 7th Viscount Ranelagh who was a friend of their father. She was in mourning on the day of the wedding for her youngest brother who had been killed in a riding …