DE POLIGNAC, Princess Ghislaine (nee BRINQUANT 1918-2011)
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Richard R
Feb 5, 2011, 7:55:09 AM2/5/11
to Peerage News
Obit in the Telegraph of 5 February 2011:
Princesse Ghislaine de Polignac, who has died aged 92, was the former
wife of Prince Edmond de Polignac, and more than once survived crises
that would have consigned a less determined person to social
ostracism.
She was born Ghislaine Brinquant in Biarritz on September 5 1918,
daughter of Victor Brinquant, a Parisian, and Simone Durand de
Villers. A vivacious blonde, Ghislaine caught the eye of Prince
Edmond, scion of one of France’s great families, and they married in
Paris on July 7 1939, when she was 20.
She later made an equally vivid impression on the British ambassador
in Paris, Duff Cooper, who ...[noted] in his diary: “She is a girl
after my own heart, good company, a formidable appetite for pleasure
and no nonsense about love.” Ghislaine informed the ambassador that —
having married and produced four children — she considered that she
had done her duty and was now determined to have a good time. He
mused: “I have no doubt she will succeed in doing so. I shall do my
best to help her.”
She became his mistress at about the same time as he took on Gloria
Rubio, then married to the Egyptian Prince Ahmad-Abu-El-Fotouh Fakhry
Bey, and later better known as Gloria Guinness. One evening Cooper
found himself at a party given by Gloria at which Ghislaine and her
husband were present. He arrived with yet another mistress, the writer
Louise de Vilmorin, and judged the occasion like a ball in Balzac:
“Everyone looking at everyone with suspicion.”
... Polignac divorced Ghislaine in November 1946 and afterwards went
to court to try to prevent her from using the princely title; he lost,
and she remained Princesse de Polignac to her dying day.
[There's more worth reading in the full obit online.]
... She was spoken of as a close friend of the Duke and Duchess of
Windsor, though the Duchess’s office considered her what they called a
tire-bouche (someone who fills a space at dinner parties), while the
Duke called her “Oui, Oui” — Ghislaine’s favourite expression.
She was fond of the Windsors and often spoke warmly of them. She
also described how the Duchess did not like her husband to linger too
long with the men in the dining room and never praised her chef, but
criticised him so as to keep him on his toes.
At the Duchess’s funeral in 1986, Ghislaine was given a front-row
seat in St George’s Chapel . As one of the last surviving friends of
the Duke and Duchess, she made some spirited contributions to
television documentaries about them.
In later life she had a boyfriend, Baron Philippe du Pasquier, a bon
vivant who enjoyed food and wine. She cut an elegant figure as she
tottered on high heels through the 8e arrondissement of Paris.
The Baron predeceased Ghislaine, and she is survived by two sons and
two daughters. A mass was said for her in Paris on February 3. Prince
Edmond de Polignac died in 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8303730/Princesse-Ghislaine-de-Polignac.html
Michael posted news of the death of one of her elder daughter's
husbands (Nicholas Meinertzhagen, scion of the gentry family) in 2006:
http://groups.google.com/group/peerage-news/browse_thread/thread/5efefd87d97718ae/c355a6a2ee91acfe?lnk=gst&q=polignac#c355a6a2ee91acfe
And her former husband and another wife were mentioned in a posting in
May last year, originally announcing the death of Mrs Gerald Selous:
http://groups.google.com/group/peerage-news/browse_thread/thread/1bd4cee988d22371/2d37d1009915c6a4?lnk=gst&q=polignac#
Princesse Ghislaine de Polignac, who has died aged 92, was the former
wife of Prince Edmond de Polignac, and more than once survived crises
that would have consigned a less determined person to social
ostracism.
She was born Ghislaine Brinquant in Biarritz on September 5 1918,
daughter of Victor Brinquant, a Parisian, and Simone Durand de
Villers. A vivacious blonde, Ghislaine caught the eye of Prince
Edmond, scion of one of France’s great families, and they married in
Paris on July 7 1939, when she was 20.
She later made an equally vivid impression on the British ambassador
in Paris, Duff Cooper, who ...[noted] in his diary: “She is a girl
after my own heart, good company, a formidable appetite for pleasure
and no nonsense about love.” Ghislaine informed the ambassador that —
having married and produced four children — she considered that she
had done her duty and was now determined to have a good time. He
mused: “I have no doubt she will succeed in doing so. I shall do my
best to help her.”
She became his mistress at about the same time as he took on Gloria
Rubio, then married to the Egyptian Prince Ahmad-Abu-El-Fotouh Fakhry
Bey, and later better known as Gloria Guinness. One evening Cooper
found himself at a party given by Gloria at which Ghislaine and her
husband were present. He arrived with yet another mistress, the writer
Louise de Vilmorin, and judged the occasion like a ball in Balzac:
“Everyone looking at everyone with suspicion.”
... Polignac divorced Ghislaine in November 1946 and afterwards went
to court to try to prevent her from using the princely title; he lost,
and she remained Princesse de Polignac to her dying day.
[There's more worth reading in the full obit online.]
... She was spoken of as a close friend of the Duke and Duchess of
Windsor, though the Duchess’s office considered her what they called a
tire-bouche (someone who fills a space at dinner parties), while the
Duke called her “Oui, Oui” — Ghislaine’s favourite expression.
She was fond of the Windsors and often spoke warmly of them. She
also described how the Duchess did not like her husband to linger too
long with the men in the dining room and never praised her chef, but
criticised him so as to keep him on his toes.
At the Duchess’s funeral in 1986, Ghislaine was given a front-row
seat in St George’s Chapel . As one of the last surviving friends of
the Duke and Duchess, she made some spirited contributions to
television documentaries about them.
In later life she had a boyfriend, Baron Philippe du Pasquier, a bon
vivant who enjoyed food and wine. She cut an elegant figure as she
tottered on high heels through the 8e arrondissement of Paris.
The Baron predeceased Ghislaine, and she is survived by two sons and
two daughters. A mass was said for her in Paris on February 3. Prince
Edmond de Polignac died in 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8303730/Princesse-Ghislaine-de-Polignac.html
Michael posted news of the death of one of her elder daughter's
husbands (Nicholas Meinertzhagen, scion of the gentry family) in 2006:
http://groups.google.com/group/peerage-news/browse_thread/thread/5efefd87d97718ae/c355a6a2ee91acfe?lnk=gst&q=polignac#c355a6a2ee91acfe
And her former husband and another wife were mentioned in a posting in
May last year, originally announcing the death of Mrs Gerald Selous:
http://groups.google.com/group/peerage-news/browse_thread/thread/1bd4cee988d22371/2d37d1009915c6a4?lnk=gst&q=polignac#
marquess
Feb 5, 2011, 10:25:11 AM2/5/11
to Peerage News
That was most interesting, I like the part where she says that she had
deemed that she had done her duty and was now determined to have a
good time.
> Edmond de Polignac died in 2010http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8303730/Princesse-Ghislain...
deemed that she had done her duty and was now determined to have a
good time.
>
> Michael posted news of the death of one of her elder daughter's
> husbands (Nicholas Meinertzhagen, scion of the gentry family) in 2006:http://groups.google.com/group/peerage-news/browse_thread/thread/5efe...
> Michael posted news of the death of one of her elder daughter's
>
> And her former husband and another wife were mentioned in a posting in
> May last year, originally announcing the death of Mrs Gerald Selous:http://groups.google.com/group/peerage-news/browse_thread/thread/1bd4...> And her former husband and another wife were mentioned in a posting in
Richard R
Feb 5, 2011, 11:06:04 AM2/5/11
to Peerage News
Yes, quite a live wire! The obit was in the Telegraph of 4 Feb, not
5th. Rather annoyingly they don't give a date of death.
> > May last year, originally announcing the death of Mrs Gerald Selous:http://groups.google.com/group/peerage-news/browse_thread/thread/1bd4...- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
5th. Rather annoyingly they don't give a date of death.
>
> - Show quoted text -
Netty
Feb 11, 2011, 12:00:32 PM2/11/11
to Peerage News
On 5 feb, 17:06, Richard R <r_rut...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Yes, quite a live wire! The obit was in the Telegraph of 4 Feb, not
> 5th. Rather annoyingly they don't give a date of death.
Princesse Ghislaine de Polignac née Brinquant died aged 92. Funeral
> Yes, quite a live wire! The obit was in the Telegraph of 4 Feb, not
> 5th. Rather annoyingly they don't give a date of death.
service has taken place in private. Memorial service: chapelle de
Jésus-Enfant at Paris 7th on 3 February 2011.
She is survived as mother, mother-in-law, grandmother and great-
grandmother by:
Prince Alain de Polignac, Mrs Nicolas Meinertzhagen, Mr and Mrs Pierre
Rodocanachi, Prince and Princesse Aimery de Polignac, with children
and grandchildren.
Source: Le Figaro, 22 January 2011
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