16 Facts About Ann Fleming

Ann Geraldine Mary Fleming was a British aristocrat and socialite.

Ann Fleming had three husbands: Lord O'Neill, Lord Rothermere and Ian Fleming.

Ann Fleming was the eldest daughter; her grandfather was Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss.

Ann Fleming's grandmother was Mary Constance Wyndham, who had her own hedonistic past, having been one of The Souls.

Ann Fleming's sister was Laura Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, and her brother was the novelist Hugo Charteris.

Ann Fleming was educated by governesses after an unsuccessful term at Cheltenham Ladies' College.

Ann Fleming had a good understanding of literature but her future was to be a debutante, and in 1932 she married Shane O'Neill, 3rd Baron O'Neill, who was both an aristocrat and a financier.

The couple had two children before Ann Fleming began an affair with the influential Esmond Cecil Harmsworth in 1936.

Lord O'Neill was killed in action in 1944, and Ann Fleming married Lord Rothermere in 1945.

Meanwhile, Ian Ann Fleming left the navy and became a journalist with The Sunday Times.

Ann Fleming had built Goldeneye on land in the British Colony of Jamaica and he had demanded three-month vacations from his employer to enjoy his holiday home.

Ann Fleming was pregnant with her son when they married; he was born on 12 August 1952.

Anxiety over his forthcoming marriage is said to be the reason that Ian Ann Fleming wrote the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale.

Ann Fleming had a long-term affair with the Labour Party politician Hugh Gaitskell.

Ann Fleming's husband was not keen on the socialising, but their houses attracted Evelyn Waugh, Cyril Connolly and Peter Quennell.

Ann Fleming died at Sevenhampton Place on 12 July 1981.