Grace Elliott

Grace Elliott
Portrait of Grace Elliot by Thomas Gainsborough, circa 1778 (in the Frick Collection)
Born	1754 Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	1823 Ville d'Avray
Nationality	British
Known for	mistress of the Louis Philip II, Duke of Orléans

Grace Dalrymple Elliott (1754–1823) was a Scottish socialite who was resident in Paris at the time of the French Revolution and an eyewitness to events. She was once mistress of the Duke of Orléans, who was cousin to King Louis XVI. She was arrested and held awaiting death by guillotine but released after the death of Robespierre. She wrote an autobiographical account of her experiences, Ma Vie Sous La Révolution, published posthumously in 1859.

Early life

She was the youngest daughter of Lord Cholmondeley. ^[2]

Life in England

She met Lord Cholmondeley at the

• Grace Elliott's portrait by Thomas Gainsborough at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
• During the Reign of Terror: Journal of My Life During the French Revolution, fulltext of Grace Dalrymple Elliott's autobiography, 1910 edition]

External links

• Bleackley, Horace (1909). Ladies Fair and Frail: Sketches of the Demi-monde During the Eighteenth Century. J. Lane. 
• Camp, Anthony, Royal Mistresses and Bastards: Fact and Fiction 1714-1936, London, 2007, ISBN 9780950330822
• Manning, Jo. My Lady Scandalous: The Amazing Life and Outrageous Times of Grace Dalrymple Elliot, Royal Courtesan, August 2005, Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group; ISBN 0-7432-6262-X

References

Attribution

Notes

A dramatic portrayal of part of her life is contained in the 2001 film The Lady and the Duke. English actress Lucy Russell played Grace and Jean-Claude Dreyfus played the Duke of Orleans.

Film

• Grace Dalrymple Elliott (1859). During the Reign of Terror: Journal of My Life During the French Revolution. R. Bentley. 

Works

She was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery.^[10]

Although many of her friends met their deaths including Madame du Barry, Grace did not. She narrowly avoided death and was released after the Reign of Terror came to an end. In total she had been confined to four different prisons by the republican government. In later years, rumour had it that she has an attachment with Napoleon Bonaparte, but had rejected his offer of marriage. She died a wealthy woman at Ville d'Avray, in present day Hauts-de-Seine in May 1823, while lodger of the commune's mayor. ^[9]

Later life

George, Prince of Wales, introduced her to the French Duke of Orleans in 1784. The couple started an affair and in 1786 Grace settled in Paris. She remained there throughout the revolution. The duc sided with the revolutionaries, took the name Philippe Égalité, voted for the execution of his cousin, the King and whipped up hatred against Louis's wife, Marie Antoinette. Grace supported the monarchy and became a devoted follower of Louis XVI and his family. His execution in 1793 devastated her. France was plunged into a reign of terror and paranoia gripped the people. Grace was imprisoned from December 1793 to 4 October 1794.^[8]

Grace Elliot (1754?–1823). Portrait by Thomas Gainsborough, 1778. (In the Metropolitan Museum of Art)^[7]

France, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans and imprisonment

[6] said in January 1782 that he admitted responsibility. However, when the child, which was very dark, was first shown to the Prince he is said to have remarked, "To convince me that this is my girl they must first prove that black is white". The Prince and many others regarded Lord Cholmondeley as the father, though the Prince's friends said that Charles William Wyndham (brother of Lord Egremont), whom she was thought to resemble, claimed paternity. Yet others thought she might have been fathered by Morning Post Grace declared that the Prince was the father of her child and the

^[5][2]