Lady Iris Mountbatten

Lady Iris Mountbatten (13 January 1920 – 1 September 1982) was an English actress and model, and a member of the Battenberg/Mountbatten family. She was the youngest great-grandchild of Queen Victoria. She was also a niece of Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain.

Lady Iris Mountbatten
Born
Iris Victoria Beatrice Grace Mountbatten

(1920-01-13)13 January 1920
London, England
Died1 September 1982(1982-09-01) (aged 62)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
OccupationActress, model
Spouse(s)
Hamilton Joseph O'Malley
​
(
m. 1941; div. 1946)

​
(
m. 1957; div. 1957)

William Alexander Kemp
(
m. 1965)
Children1
Parent(s)Alexander Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke
Lady Irene Denison
FamilyBattenberg/Mountbatten

Family and early life

Lady Iris Mountbatten was born in Kensington Palace, London on 13 January 1920, the only child of Alexander Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke, eldest of three sons and one daughter of Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg.[1] Her mother, the Marchioness of Carisbrooke GBE (1938), DJStJ, Order of Queen Maria Luisa, was born Lady Irene Frances Adza Denison (4 July 1890 – 16 July 1956) the only daughter of William Francis Henry Denison, 2nd Earl of Londesborough and Lady Grace Adelaide Fane (3 October 1860 – 13 June 1933), a daughter of Francis William Henry Fane, 12th Earl of Westmorland.

Lord Carisbrooke's only sister, Ena, was Queen consort to King Alfonso XIII of Spain, thus making Lady Iris a first cousin of the Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, grandfather of the present King, Felipe VI of Spain. Lady Carisbrooke had two brothers of whom only one, Hugo William Cecil Denison, 4th and last Earl of Londesborough, was married. He and his wife had one child, Iris's only maternal first cousin, Lady Zinnia Rosemary Denison (25 November 1937 – 13 July 1997) a keen equestrian and Master of the Whaddon Chase Hunt 1982-84. 'The Lady Zinnia Judd Challenge Trophy' named in memory of her, is presented in the Hunter Championship for the 'Best Hunter in Show' at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

On 29 November 1934, Iris was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousins, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark and Prince George, Duke of Kent. On 4 September 1935, at St. Oswald's Church, Blankney, Lincolnshire, she was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her uncle Lord Londesborough to Marigold Rosemary Joyce Lubbock (15 May 1903 – 15 May 1976). On 12 May 1937 at their coronation, Iris was one of the six train bearers to Queen Elizabeth, wife and consort of her cousin King George VI.[2]

She attended a variety of royal and aristocratic events in her youth, being a well known and much photographed débutante. During World War II she worked as a nurse's aide, later moving to the United States, where she taught dance.[3] She became an actress and model, appearing as a hostess for a live TV children's programme Versatile Varieties (CBS Television, 1951), which featured actresses Eva Marie Saint and Edie Adams.[4][5] She also appeared endorsing Pond's Creams[6] and Warrens Mint Cocktail Gum.[7]

Marriages

Lady Iris was married three times. On 29 January 1941 Lady Iris received Royal Licence by King George VI to marry Captain (later Major) Hamilton Joseph Keyes O'Malley (after an engagement formally announced in The Times 18 January 1941). They married on 15 February 1941 (privately to satisfy the groom's faith) at St Paul's RC Church, Haywards Heath, West Sussex but then were married in the rites of the Church of England at St. Mary's CE Parish in Balcombe, West Sussex. They divorced on 24 September 1946. Lady Iris formally reverted to her maiden name of Mountbatten by Deed poll dated 7 January 1949. They had no children.

On 5 May 1957, at Pound Ridge, New York, she married Michael Neely Bryan (9 August 1916 – 20 August 1972), son of James R. Bryan and Laura A. Neely, an American jazz musician. They divorced months later in 1957. Lady Iris had one child, Robin Alexander Bryan (born 1957), by her second marriage.

On 11 December 1965, she married William Alexander Kemp (10 July 1921 – 12 December 1991), son of Clarence Arthur Kemp and Helen Janet Ballantyne, a Canadian actor and announcer.[8][9]

Lady Iris died on 1 September 1982 at Wellesley Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,[8] of a brain tumour. Her ashes were brought to the Isle of Wight for interment in the Battenberg Chapel at St. Mildred's Church, Whippingham.

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References
  1. Foster, Jim (23 May 1981). "Royal family 'blacksheep' not yet invited to royal wedding". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  2. Whittingham, Ann (12 May 1937). "Queen's 40 pound train carried by six beauties". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  3. "Personalien: Lady Iris Mountbatten". Der Spiegel (in German). 7 June 1947. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  4. "Lady Iris Mountbatten". imdb.com. IMDb. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  5. Fischer, Stuart (10 June 2014). Kids' TV: The First Twenty-Five Years. Open Road Media.
  6. "The Power of Refined Beauty: Photographing Society Women for Pond's, 1920s-1950s". Duke University Library. 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  7. ""I prefer the new mint cocktail gum" says Lady Iris Mountbatten" (Print Ad). Life Magazine. 7 July 1947. p. 63. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  8. "Lady Iris Mountbatten; A Cousin of the Queen". New York Times. 3 September 1982. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  9. "The Kings and Queens of Canada: The Crown in Canadian History". The Kings and Queens of Canada: The Crown in Canadian History. Government of Canada. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
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