Tuesday, September 16, 2008

A new American princess

September 16, 1901

Helen Singer is to marry Roumanian prince John Ghika. Their engagement was confirmed by Hazel's father, Charles J. Singer, in a letter to his brother, Arthur J. Singer.
Prince John is the son of the Roumanian attaché to Turkey. The couple first met in Contantinople at a ball hosted by the American consul John Leishman.
Although the Singers had planned to sail back to the US on August 31, they remain in Constantinople as Hazel recovers from a fever. Miss Singer, 19, and her family spend several weeks each year in Chicago, although their primary residence is in Paris.
No date for the wedding has been announced.

Ambassador Leishman, incidentally, is the father of a 6-year-old daughter, Nancy.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nancy Leishman who married as his
1st wife 1913, Karl Rudolf Duke of Croy and were the parents of the current duke, Carl b 1914 who married 1953, Princess Gabrielle of Bavaria - small world !

Paul

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

that is why I added Nancy's name ... I have the articles for the Hazel's wedding, which took place in December 1901. Ambassador Leishman's daughter was one of the bridesmaids, but the child is not named. I have to check to see if Leishman had more than one daughter.

Anonymous said...

Marlene, is Helen of the Singer sewing machine Singers? (Extraordinary family...they have their own contributions to the nobility.)

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Her father was a wealthy broker and a member of the Chicago Board of Trade.