Laura Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
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Her Grace The Duchess of Marlborough |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | (Frances) Laura Charteris 10 August 1915 London, England |
| Died | 19 February 1990 (aged 74) Portman Towers, Marylebone, London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse(s) |
Walter Long, 2nd Viscount Long William Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley Michael Temple Canfield John Spencer-Churchill, 10th Duke of Marlborough |
| Children | Antoinette Sara Frances Sibell Long |
| Parents | The Hon. Guy Lawrence Charteris Frances Lucy Tennant |
Frances Laura Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (née Charteris; 10 August 1915 – 19 February 1990), was a British noblewoman and socialite. She was variously Viscountess Long, Countess of Dudley and became Duchess of Marlborough upon her fourth marriage, to John Spencer-Churchill, 10th Duke of Marlborough. She was the sister of novelist Hugo Charteris and Ann Charteris (who married Ian Fleming), as well as the granddaughter of Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss. Her third husband, Michael Temple Canfield, was the former husband of Lee Radziwill, sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. During World War II, she served as an auxiliary nurse.
Frances Laura Charteris was born on 10 August 1915 at London, England, to Captain the Hon. Guy Lawrence Charteris (second son of the 11th Earl of Wemyss) and Frances Lucy Tennant, daughter of a Scottish chemical merchant. Laura, as she was called, had 3 siblings, Ann, Mary Rose and Hugo. Their mother died of cancer in 1925 and the remainder of their childhood was spent shuffling between homes in London and family in Scotland, where their grandparents, the Earl and Countess of Wemyss, lived. During World War II, she served as an auxiliary nurse for the Royal Navy.
On 14 November 1933, at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, London, England, she married Walter Francis David Long, 2nd Viscount Long. He was the son of Brigadier-General Walter Long and Sibell Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone. During her marriage, she was the Viscountess Long. Laura's only child, (Antoinette) Sara Frances Sibell Long (born 9 Aug 1934), was the product of this union. The couple divorced in 1942.
Laura then married William Humble Eric Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley, son of William Humble Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley and Rachel Gurney, on 23 February 1943. She was known as the Countess of Dudley until she and Ward divorced in 1954.
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