How the Duchess of Rutland, who's died aged 86 at Belvoir Castle, never truly escaped the scandal around her 'Dirty Duchess' mother - who became a 'nightmare of embarrassment' for her
- The late Dowager Duchess of Rutland struggled to reconcile with her mother, who never recovered from being labelled the 'Dirty Duchess'
- Read more: Daughter of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll who was at the centre of A Very British Scandal, dies aged 86, taking her secrets and scars to the grave
The death of the Duchess of Rutland this week, at the age of 86, saw her granddaughter, Lady Violet Manners, posting a highly emotional tribute to her grandmother's life.
The 30-year-old model and socialite highlighted the aristocrat's varied and accomplished successes - including mastering seven languages, training Arabian horses and chairing the local Conservative Party committee in later life.
For many though, the Duchess of Rutland will be remembered for her association with one of Britain's biggest high-society scandals, which saw her mother, Margaret, Duchess of Argyll branded the 'Dirty Duchess' - unleashing untold shame on her daughter that she would never truly shake.
The embittered divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in 1963 was one of the most turbulent court cases of the 20th century, fraught with forgery, bribery, theft and scandal surrounding explicit photographs.
A Polaroid image allegedly showed Margaret wearing only her signature triple-string of pearls while fellating an unidentified man and was reportedly 'full frontal' and 'left nothing to the imagination'.
A rare photo of Frances Sweeny, the Duchess of Rutland, who died on Sunday at the age of 86, with her mother Margaret, Duchess of Argyle in 1955. Margaret was deemed to have disgraced the Establishment after Polaroid photos of her cavorting naked with an unknown man shocked the nation
Until her death in 1993, the Scottish heiress couldn't shake how the world perceived her; she was remembered as a nymphomaniac socialite who disgraced the Establishment after Campbell, the 11th Duke of Argyll, used the photos as evidence in their divorce hearing in 1963.
Living in still highly conservative times, Frances and her brother Brian - the offspring of Margaret's first marriage to American stockbroker Charles Sweeny - were desperate that the family name wasn't thrust into the media spotlight and had tried to dissuade their mother not to contest proceedings.
The Duchess, born Margaret Whigham, didn't listen and Campbell, who alleged his ex-wife had taken on 88 lovers in just 12 years of marriage, promptly produced the killer blow in court, one that would leave both her reputation in tatters - she died penniless in 1993 - and carve a very different path for her children. fighting to distance themselves from it for the rest of their days.
Frances, who married Charles Manners in 1958 and had four children with him, endured her mother's scandal - Margaret was dubbed the 'Dirty Duchess' and died penniless in 1993 - for her whole life, despite the privileges of her aristocratic status.
Despite tense relations at times with her children - earning the Duchess the nickname 'Frosty' - she enjoyed a warm relationship with her grandchildren. Model Lady Violet Manners this week posted an emotional tribute, thanking her grandmother for 'some of my most treasured adult moments'
On her wedding day in 1958; just five years before her mother's divorce proceedings, which would change how the family were perceived
Frances Sweeny became Duchess of Rutland when she wed the 10th Duke of Rutland, Charles Manners, with whom she had four children; Manners died in 1999
Happier times: Frances (left) with her mother Margaret (right) and fashion designer Norman Hartnell at a cocktail party for overseas fashion buyers at Lancaster House, London, in 1955 - eight years before the divorce proceedings that would linger for her lifetime
Frances pictured with husband Charles Manners, 10th Duke of Rutland, and their newborn son David at Belvoir Castle in 1959, where she died on January 21st 2024
The judge, Lord Wheatley, dismissing Margaret as 'a completely promiscuous woman...who had ceased to be satisfied with normal relations and had started to indulge in disgusting sexual activities to gratify a debased sexual appetite'.
Frances, who became Dowager Duchess of Rutland following the death of her husband Charles Manners in 1999, came to see her mother as a 'nightmare of embarrassment', a friend told Vanity Fair in 1968.
'She was a staunch Catholic and when she married Charles Rutland, whose second marriage it was, she was denounced by the Catholic church,' recalls a family friend. 'She used to take her own children to Catholic services, every Sunday, but would always sit at the back because she felt she couldn't take communion.'
A beautiful woman in her youth, like her mother, she developed an aloofness which was apparent within five years of her mother's divorce. By then, as a friend told Vanity Fair, 'she couldn't stand all that ghastly publicity anymore'.
Legend had it that mother and daughter encountered each other by chance at a cocktail party. 'Hello, I'm your mother,' said Margaret; Frances allegedly replied, 'I remember' – and turned away.
The pair did reconcile before Margaret's death in 1993, by which point she was living at St George's Nursing Home in Pimlico.
Clearly from her granddaughter Lady Violet's gushing tribute this week, Frances lived a highly successful live, albeit one that bore the scars of the past.
She became the youngest duchess in the country when she married Charles Manners nearly 66 years ago in 1958, at just 20. The couple resided in Belvoir Castle, her new husband's family seat, overlooking a 16,000-acre estate in Leicestershire. More recently the estate was seen in The Crown.
Frances had to endure more 'ghastly' speculation as her mother pursued more court cases: Margaret is pictured outside the law courts in the Strand on the second day of her case, May 3, 1960. By the end of the day, she had been successfully sued for slander and libel by her former social secretary Yvonne MacPherson
However, much of her life was tarnished by the scandal; with a sadness that her gilded life couldn't compensate for.
The impact of such a scandal reverberated in her own relationships, with the Duchess being given the unwanted moniker of 'Frosty Frances'. She was estranged from her children for large periods of their lives.
The family friend recounts: 'I remember looking at a painting of her when she was young. She was a completely different person. She developed the most extraordinary smoking habit. She would stub out her cigarette on her plate. Always stub it out on her plate. Dinner at Belvoir.'
The latest generation of the Manners family clearly adored their grandmother though.
In a post shared by Lady Alice, Lady Violet penned a tribute that suggested her grandmother had been immensley well loved.
She wrote: 'Your life and impact on the estate, the incredible work you did in your time at Belvoir with Grandpa, will be felt for generations to come.'
Lady Violet Manners shared a long tribute to her grandmother on Instagram this week
Lady Violet said of her relationship with her grandmother: 'I’ll never forget the time we shared, the memories we made, and the love and idol adoration I hope you felt most acutely always, and most intensely of late.'
Emma, chief executive of the estate, and David, who are still officially married, both live in the 200-year-old stately home (pictured) in separate towers, and each have found new lovers
Lady Violet added: 'The local Conservative committee you chaired, as did Grandpa, I know I get my love of politics from you, and my other grandparents too.
'Your linguistic abilities, sadly I didn’t inherit but will forever be in awe of, speaking 7 languages fluently. Your passion for breeding award-winning Arabic horses, their beauty and wildness galloping around Belvoir village fields I’ll miss so much.'
She finished the tribute, writing: 'I’ll never forget the time we shared, the memories we made, and the love and idol adoration I hope you felt most acutely always, and most intensely of late. We stole every moment we could with you in recent months. We’ll be sure to do our best to make you proud. I’ll love you always. Violet.'