Ann Fleming
Ann Fleming | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ann Charteris 19 June, 1913 |
| Died | 12 July, 1981 |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Known for | Hostess |
Ann Geraldine Mary Fleming [née Charteris], Ann Geraldine Mary O'Neill, Lady O'Neill; Ann Geraldine Mary Harmsworth, Viscountess Rothermere] (1913–1981), was a British society hostess. She married Lord O'Neill, Lord Rothermere and the writer Ian Fleming. She also had an affair with the labour politicians Roy Jenkins and Hugh Gaitskill
Life
Fleming was born to Francis Lucy and Guy Lawrence Charteris in Westminster, London, on 19 June 1913. She was the eldest daughter and her grandfather was Hugo Charteris, ninth earl of Wemyss. She learnt to value conversation and friendship from her grandmother, Mary Constance Charteris, countess of Wemyss.[1] Her grandmother had her own hedonistic past as she had been one the "souls".[2]
She was educated by governesses after an unsuccessful term at the Cheltenham Ladies' College. She had a good understanding of literature but her future was to be a debutante and she quickly married Lord O'Neill who who both an aristocrat and a financier in 1932. She had two children before beginning an affair with the influential Esmond Cecil Harmsworth in 1936.[3]
Harmsworth was the heir to Lord Rothermere who owned the Daily Mail. Her husband went to war and Fleming appeared with Harmsworth as well as having an affair with a stockbroker named Ian Fleming. Fleming became an assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence with Harmsworth becanme Lord Rothermere. Her husband died in 1944 and she married Lord Rothermere in 1945. The couple entertained and their social circle included the painter Lucian Freud (who painted her portrait), the choreographer Frederick Ashton and the artist Francis Bacon. Meanwhile Ian Fleming left intelligence and became a Sunday Times journalist. Fleming had built Goldeneye on land in Jamaica and he had demanded three month vacations from his employer to enjoy his holiday home. The two spent three months of every year together in Jamaica.[4] Her new husband thought she was in Jamaica visiting Noel Coward. In 1951 she was divorced by Lord Rothermere and the following year she finally married Ian Fleming. The marriage is said to be the reason that Fleming wrote the first James Bond novel Casino Royale. Anne had a £100,000 divorce settlement but her new husband was unemployed.[1] The book and its sequels were immediate successes.
The Flemings bought a house in London where they entertained. Her husband was not keen on the socialising but their houses attracted Evelyn Waugh, Cyril Connolly and Peter Quennell.[4]
Anne died at her home in Sevenhampton Place, on 12 July 1981.[3]
References
- ^ a b Anne Fleming, Spartacus, Retrieved 5 February 2017
- ^ Jane Ridley, Clayre Percy, ‘Charteris , Mary Constance, countess of Wemyss (1862–1937)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2005 accessed 9 Feb 2017
- ^ a b Andrew Lycett, ‘Fleming , Ann Geraldine Mary [other married names Ann Geraldine Mary O'Neill, Lady O'Neill; Ann Geraldine Mary Harmsworth, Viscountess Rothermere] (1913–1981)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2014 accessed 9 Feb 2017
- ^ a b Andrew Lycett, ‘Fleming, Ian Lancaster (1908–1964)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2008 accessed 9 Feb 2017
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