Anne Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster
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Her Grace The Duchess of Westminster |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Anne Winifred Sullivan 13 April 1915 |
| Died | 31 August 2003 (aged 88) |
| Spouse(s) | Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster |
| Parents | Edward Sullivan Winifred Burns |
Anne Winifred Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster (née Sullivan; 13 April 1915 – 31 August 2003), known as Nancy, was an Irish born peeress best known for her passion for horse racing.
Her parents were Brigadier-General Edward Sullivan and his wife Winifred, née Burns. She spent her early life in Glanmire, County Cork, Ireland growing up with two brothers, Langford and George, and practising her riding skills. When the Second World War broke out, Anne Sullivan volunteered for the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry and served six years as personnel driver, while her brother Langford was killed during the Norway campaign. After the war, she returned home to Ireland to stay with her father, and met Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, in 1946. The enormously rich Duke, then married to his third wife Loelia but long separated, immediately bought property next to her family's home and asked his agent to ask Miss Sullivan to help with the flowers.
The 68-year-old Duke soon obtained divorce and Sullivan became his fourth wife on 7 February 1947. The new Duchess of Westminster was far wealthier than her three predecessors. The first of them, Constance Cornwallis-West, was the mother of the Duke's children, all of whom were older than the Duchess herself. The couple spent most of their time at Eaton Hall in Cheshire and Lochmore. They went to Norway every year, as the Duchess enjoyed fishing, farming, stalking, hunting and racing.
In June 1953, the Duke and Duchess attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. She was widowed the next month and retired to Eaton Lodge, where she spent the next 50 years of her life. Having inherited 120,000 acres from the 2nd Duke, the Duchess and her stepdaughter, Lady Mary, five years her senior, ranked eighth among the wealthiest landowners in Scotland.
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