These are the facts. Lady Iris and Hamilton O'Malley were married in a Roman Catholic Church. They separated before 1944.
The wedding announcement was published in the Times. The New York Times had an article about the wedding.
The couple was divorced in 1946 after Hamilton returned to the UK. He served in the Irish Guards, and for a time, was a Prisoner of War. This is verified by his obituary, which I obtained from the Irish Guards. Information about Hamilton's death was published in the companion volume to my book, Queen Victoria's Descendants. No one else had the information as his death notice was never published in The Times. (He died in Spain, where he and his third wife, Betty, lived for many years.)
Iris' separation and divorce caused great scandal in her family. Because she and her husband were separated, she was not permitted to attend her grandmother, Princess Beatrice's funeral.
I have an extensive clip file on Lady Iris' life, from the announcement of her birth and her baptism through her marriages and divorces and, eventually, her death. In between, there are articles, largely from US and Canadian newspapers, including interviews with Lady Iris, where she talked about her marriages, and her ONLY CHILD, her son Robin. Lady Iris lived a rather bohemian lifestyle and was often in the gossip columns in the 1950s. She preferred the company of American jazz musicians to the British aristocracy.
Lady Iris died at Wellesley Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, on September 1, 1982. She was 62-years-old. She died after a lengthy illness. Earlier in the year, she had spent several weeks at the Princess Margaret Hospital, where she underwent treatment for cancer.
"Her only child was son Robin Bryan from her second marriage."
Hamilton O'Malley's second marriage and the births of his two sons were all published in the Times in the Marriages and Births columns, respectively.
Lady Iris' father, the Marquess of Carisbrooke died in 1960, his title became extinct, "for he has no male heir. It cannot pass to his only child, Lady Iris Mountbatten, or her two-year-old son."
This was published in the New York Times on February 24, 1960.
This is what it states in the official death announcement that was published in Toronto newspapers: Kemp, Lady Iris Beatrice Mountbatten. At Toronto, on Wednesday, September 1, 1982, Lady Iris Beatrice Mountbatten Kemp, dearly beloved mother of Robin Bryan."
Lady Iris and William Kemp remained legally married, although they separated two weeks after their marriage.
It also should be noted that Hamilton O'Malley had a previous engagement prior to his marriage to Lady Iris. On May 31, 1938, his engagement to Angela Tod was announced in The Times. The couple never married, as an announcement, ending their engagement, was published in The Times on December 15, 1938.
Incidentally, I have never been in contact with "Lady Grania", although she keeps sending me messages through Facebook. I will not respond because there is no need to respond. Facts win out. There are many books, from Burkes' Peerage and Baronetage to Queen Victoria's Descendants, where she will find the correct information about Lady Iris Mountbatten O'Malley Bryan Kemp.
The following is an excerpt from one of "Grania's messages to me:
'"try harder my dear - your homework is poor - my id is none of your business may be you could inform me why my id is so important to you and to the catholics!! and why choose me? you are 3rd person who has chosen me for fame! the second one apologised and I expect an apology from you - can you supply proof of what you comment about me and my family if you have not proof you have lost your case - but you have lost your case anyway
whats the matter afraid to confront me!!
best wishes
lady Grania"
The proof is in the pudding, or rather in all the news articles, marriage certificates, etc.
O dear, o dear!
ReplyDeleteYou must be trembling...
;=)
Doesn't she know not to mess with you when it comes to facts? What is she thinking to take on a librarian?
ReplyDeleteespcially one who specializes in Victoria's descendants.
ReplyDeleteIf she had a better command of the English language, people might take her more seriously. It looks like she went through the Royal family looking for a place to be born.
ReplyDeleteOh well, hopefully she'll go away.
I love that she picked an obscure member of the British royal family to be related to and assumed that no one would know who that person was or would be able to prove that this person isn't really who she says she is. Right now, she has a respected genealogist blogging about her, so she undoubtedly loves the attention. My advice is to roll your eyes and laugh OR if you're in a more fun mood, post the information about Lady Iris on this person's facebook wall. ;)
ReplyDeletePerhaps some can do that, but I blocked her on Facebook.
ReplyDeletePoor Lady Grania! What a world she inhabits, full of boredom and ennui! It must tire her so to reach for the shift key. In fact, the only thing that seems to motivate her to do so is to capitalize her own first name.....
ReplyDelete