Boni de Castellane
| Paul Ernest Boniface de Castellane | |
|---|---|
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| Born | February 14, 1867 |
| Died | October 20, 1932 (aged 65) |
| Spouse(s) | Anna Gould |
Paul Ernest Boniface de Castellane, Marquis de Castellane (February 14, 1867 – October 20, 1932) was a French nobleman known as a leading Belle Epoque tastemaker and the first husband of American railroad heiress Anna Gould.
Comte Paul Ernest Boniface de Castellane, known as Boni, was the eldest son of Antoine, Marquis de Castellane, and his wife, the former Anne-Marie Le Clerc de Juigné. His brothers were Jean and Stanislas de Castellane. Like his siblings, Boni bore the courtesy title of comte de Castellane, until he inherited his father's title upon the latter's death in 1917.
He married Anna Gould (1875–1961), the daughter of Jay Gould, the American industrialist and millionaire, on March 14, 1895 in New York City. They had the following children:
Anna obtained a civil divorce in 1906, after de Castellane had spent about $10 million of the money given to Anna by her father upon marriage. In 1908, Anna married his cousin, Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Sagan, 5th duc de Talleyrand, and Boniface then sought an annulment from the Vatican so that he could be free to remarry in the Church. The annulment case was settled in 1924, when the highest Vatican tribunal upheld the validity of the marriage and denied the annulment.
Time magazine wrote on April 13, 1925:
Probably not since Henry VIII tried in vain to get an annulment of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon has a matrimonial case been so long in the courts of the Roman Catholic Church as that on which nine Cardinals have just handed down a final decision. The male in this case is the son of one of France's most historic houses − Le Comte Boni de Castellane. The female is the daughter of a United States stockbroker, the late Jay Gould − the present Anna, Marquise de Talleyrand Périgord, Duchesse de Sagan. On March 14, 1895, Anna became La Comtesse de Castellane by a marriage solemnized in Manhattan by the late Archbishop Corrigan. After three children were born, La Comtesse obtained a civil divorce from Le Comte on grounds of infidelity. In 1908, she married Le Marquis de Talleyrand Périgord, Duc de Sagan. Thereupon, Le Comte asked the Vatican to annul the marriage, apparently that he might be free to marry again, within the Church.
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