Renowned beauty, actress, aristocrat, socialite and political wife.
Diana Cooper, Viscountess Norwich was born at 23A Bruton Street, as Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners. Officially daughter of the 8th Duke of Rutland, her biological father was the writer Harry Cust.
1919 married Duff Cooper, later British ambassador to France. They moved to number 90 Gower Street (see Charles Darwin bust) in 1920, and then expanded into the first floors of numbers 92 and 94. Here was a drawing room decorated by Rex Whistler with Roman plaques and vases in trompe l'oeil. They lived here until 1937, years that Diana considered some of her happiest. For a time they actually lived at the Admiralty due to Duff's job and Gower Street was empty, except when Duff used it as a rendezvous for his love-affairs, but it was an open sort of marriage so Diana knew quite a lot of what was going on. Information from Philip Ziegler's biography of Diana Cooper.
Mother of writer John Julius Norwich.
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