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Harriet Sarah, Lady Mordaunt (7 February 1848 – 9 May 1906〔http://thepeerage.com/p1358.htm#i13578〕), formerly Harriet Moncreiffe, was the Scottish wife of an English baronet and Member of Parliament, Sir Charles Mordaunt. She was the respondent in a sensational divorce case in which the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) was embroiled and, after a counter-petition led to a finding of mental disorder, spent the remaining thirty-six years of her life initially in several privately rented houses, and then in various private lunatic asylums, finally ending her days in Sutton, Surrey. ==Background and marriage== Lady Mordaunt (as she is referred to throughout this article〔Some writers have referred to Lady Mordaunt as "Lady Harriet Mordaunt", a style that would be correct only if she had been the daughter of an earl, marquess or duke (which she was not, although her mother was).〕) was born Harriet Sarah Moncreiffe. Her parents were Sir Thomas Moncreiffe of that Ilk,〔"Of that Ilk" means "of that same place", ''i.e.'' it is a contraction of "Moncreiffe of Moncreiffe".〕 7th Baronet (1822–1879) of Moncreiffe House,〔The original Moncreiffe House (1679) was destroyed by fire in 1957.〕 Perthshire, Scotland, and his wife, Lady Louisa Hay-Drummond (died 1898), eldest daughter of The 11th Earl of Kinnoull.〔http://thepeerage.com/p1358.htm#i13578〕 They had sixteen children, including eight "beautiful" daughters who were, in due course, mostly "extremely well married".〔Report of the Mordaunt case, ''Pall Mall Gazette'', 11 March 1875; reprinted in ''New York Times'', 24 March 1875.〕 Lady Mordaunt was their fourth child (and fourth daughter). Her sister Georgina (the Moncreiffes' third daughter, known to the family as Georgy) became Countess of Dudley, her husband having been dubbed "frizzle wig" by Lady Mordaunt.〔Elizabeth Hamilton (1999) ''The Warwickshire Scandal''. A caricature of Lord Dudley by Ape, published in ''Vanity Fair'' in June 1870, suggests that this was an apt description.〕 In 1920 Margot Asquith recalled that "groups of beauties like the Moncrieffes ''()'' ... were to be seen in the salons of the () 'eighties. There is nothing at all like this in London today"〔''The Autobiography of Margot Asquith'', Volume I (1920). Beginning with the Moncreiffes, Mrs. Asquith named several other beautiful groups and individuals, including the Conynghams, Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of Winston, and Lady de Grey, later Marchioness of Ripon. While observing that London society was "neither better nor worse" in 1920 than forty years earlier, she was unable to think "where all the beauty has gone to!"〕 Sir Thomas Moncreiffe served in the Grenadier Guards and become a captain in the Atholl Highlanders. He was captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews. The atmosphere at Moncreiffe has been described as "free and easy".〔Hamilton, ''op.cit''.〕 During her childhood Lady Mordaunt was acquainted with the Prince of Wales〔Deborah Fisher (2005) ''Princesses of Wales''〕 and, after his marriage to Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863, attended informal parties, including dances at Abergeldie Castle,〔Georgina Battiscombe (1969) ''Queen Alexandra''〕 near Balmoral, which the Prince used as his Highland home.〔E. F. Benson (1930) ''As We Were: A Victorian Peepshow''〕 In November 1865 she was invited to Sandringham, the Waleses' house in Norfolk, and subsequently joined the Prince and Princess on various occasions in London.〔Hamilton, ''op.cit''.〕 Lady Mordaunt grew up to be pretty and flirtatious,〔Obituary of Sir Richard Hamilton, ''Daily Telegraph'', 3 October 2001〕 but also headstrong〔Hamilton, ''op.cit''.〕 and, ultimately, rather unbalanced.〔Christopher Hibbert (2000) ''Queen Victoria: A Personal History''〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Harriet Mordaunt」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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