Helen Diana Bridgeman

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(Helen) Diana (née Bridgeman), Lady Abdy, possibly by Lady Evelyn Hilda Stuart Moyne (née Erskine), 1934

Lady Helen Diana Bridgeman (22 June 1907 – 7 May 1967) was an English socialite and fashion leader[1] included in The Book of Beauty by Cecil Beaton.[2]

Biography[]

Lady Helen Diana Bridgeman was born on 22 June 1907,[3][4] the daughter of Orlando Bridgeman, 5th Earl of Bradford, and the Hon. Margaret Cecilia Bruce.[1][3]

In 1922 she was the youngest bridesmaid at the wedding of Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, daughter of George V.[5]

On 10 February 1930 she married Sir Robert Henry Edward Abdy, 5th Baronet, son of Sir Henry Beadon Abdy, 4th Bt. and Anna Adele Coronna.[3] They had one son, Sir Valentine Robert Duff Abdy, 6th Baronet (1937–2012)[6] and divorced in 1962.[1][3] Sir Robert Abdy was an art authority who owned antique shops in London and Paris.[5] Lady Diana Bridgeman was also an artist;[5] in 1920 publisher Erskine MacDonald published The Poems & Paintings of the Lady Diana Bridgeman.[7] Her portrait posing as a painter by Harold Speed is at the Leamington Spa Gallery and Museum.[8]

In 1933 she was included, together with her sister, in The Book of Beauty by Cecil Beaton: "Lady Abdy is a more exotic edition of her (Rosamond Pinchot n.d.r.); leonine large and pale, sullen with flowing ash air and richly curving lips. Her movements are panther like, and in many other ways she resembles Greta Garbo."[2]

She died on 7 May 1967.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "(Helen) Diana (Bridgeman), Lady Abdy". National Portrait Gallery, London.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Beaton, Cecil (1933). The Book Of Beauty. Retrieved 19 January 2018.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999
  4. ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Marries Art Authority - 11 feb 1930". The Montreal Gazette. 1930. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  6. ^ Adam and Charles Black Ltd. Who's Who 1975: An Annual Autobiographical Dictionary. London, U.K.: Adam and Charles Black, 1975
  7. ^ The Poems & Paintings of the Lady Diana Bridgeman. Erskine MacDonald. 1920.
  8. ^ "Speed Diana". Women in the Act of Painting. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
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