13 Facts About Maud Cunard

Maud Cunard had long relationships with the novelist George Moore and the conductor Thomas Beecham, and was the muse of the former and a champion of and fund-raiser for the latter.

Maud Cunard was a supporter of Wallis Simpson during the British abdication crisis of 1936, vainly hoping for a court appointment.

Maud Cunard was brought up in New York, where she became a devotee of music, hearing her first Wagner when she was 12.

Maud Cunard hoped to marry Prince Andre Poniatowski, grandson of the last King of Poland, but he jilted her and in April 1895 she married Sir Bache Cunard, 3rd Baronet, grandson of the founder of the Cunard shipping line.

Maud Cunard was 21 years her senior, and despite his affection for her, they had little in common.

Maud Cunard preferred to live at his country house, Nevill Holt Hall, in Leicestershire, where he was a keen huntsman.

Maud Cunard's wife began to establish a reputation as a hostess, "with a taste for the arts, or for artists anyhow, especially musicians", and was known for being extremely well read in French and English literature.

Moore did not discourage the widespread belief that he, not Maud Cunard, was Nancy's father, but this is not generally credited by historians, and it is not certain that Moore's relationship with Nancy's mother was ever more than platonic.

Maud Cunard was a tireless fund-raiser and persuaded many rich and upper-class people to support Beecham's extravagant operatic ventures.

The widowed Lady Maud Cunard took up residence in Grosvenor Square.

At events attended by the Royal Family, Maud Cunard would have to wait until they left before she could gain admission.

Beecham's residence in the US in the early years of the war led Lady Maud Cunard to move to New York, where she set up home in a luxurious hotel.

Maud Cunard returned to London and moved into the Dorchester Hotel where she died, miserable and lonely, at the age of 75.