Barbara Cartland dressed for the Santa Klaus Ball. (Photo by Fox Photos)
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1930
Barbara Cartland
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1930
England, UK
Barbara Cartland (1901 - 2000) poses beside the glider in which she made the first long-distance towed journey in England, from Hanworth to Reading. She is advocating the value of tow gliders as commercial aircraft, and this particular glider has been named in her honor. (Photo by Sasha)
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1940
Barbara Cartland with her three children, Glen, Raine and Ian, 16th December 1940. (Photo by Fred Morley)
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1944
Barbara Cartland with her children Ian, Glen and Raine, 18th January 1944. (Photo by Keystone)
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1977
Camfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK
Barbara Cartland with a Rolls Royce, At home at Camfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, 20th July 1977. (Photo by Lichfield Archive)
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1977
Barbara Cartland
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1981
Barbara Cartland
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1981
53 Park Ln, Mayfair, London W1K 1QA, UK
From left to right, actress Diana Dors (1931 - 1984), her husband Alan Lake (1940 - 1984) and writer Barbara Cartland (1901 - 2000) attend a Foyle's literary luncheon at the Dorchester Hotel, in honor of actress Gloria Swanson, 11th March 1981.
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1988
Barbara Cartland
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1988
Barbara Cartland
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1988
Barbara Cartland
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1989
UK
Barbara Cartland promotes the beauty creme by Chanel in Great Britain, July 6, 1989. (Photo by Julian Parker)
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1989
Great Brington, Northamptonshire, UK
Barbara Cartland (1901 - 2000) at the wedding of Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer and Catherine Lockwood at Great Brington, Northamptonshire, 16th September 1989. (Photo by Georges De Keerle)
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1990
Barbara Cartland
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1990
Barbara Cartland
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
1990
Barbara Cartland
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
4988
Barbara Cartland
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
Barbara Cartland and Pekinese dog Twi Twi (Photo by Norman Parkinson Archive)
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
Barbara Cartland(Photo by Norman Parkinson Archive)
Gallery of Barbara Cartland
Barbara Cartland and Pekinese dog Twi Twi (Photo by Norman Parkinson Archive)
Barbara Cartland (1901 - 2000) poses beside the glider in which she made the first long-distance towed journey in England, from Hanworth to Reading. She is advocating the value of tow gliders as commercial aircraft, and this particular glider has been named in her honor. (Photo by Sasha)
From left to right, actress Diana Dors (1931 - 1984), her husband Alan Lake (1940 - 1984) and writer Barbara Cartland (1901 - 2000) attend a Foyle's literary luncheon at the Dorchester Hotel, in honor of actress Gloria Swanson, 11th March 1981.
Barbara Cartland (1901 - 2000) at the wedding of Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer and Catherine Lockwood at Great Brington, Northamptonshire, 16th September 1989. (Photo by Georges De Keerle)
(After her mother died when Serena Staveley was just nine,...)
After her mother died when Serena Staveley was just nine, her father, Sir Giles, indulged his deep passion for gambling, leaving his only child in charge of an impoverished household. Now a stunningly beautiful young woman, Serena is mortified to hear that her father has been killed in a duel.
(After her stagecoach collides with the Marquis of Stade’s...)
After her stagecoach collides with the Marquis of Stade’s speeding curricle on the road to Blackwater, slender golden-haired beauty, Gretna Hayden, is somewhat at the mercy of this cynical-lipped yet handsome Nobleman.
(The beautiful red-headed Druscilla Morley has been cruell...)
The beautiful red-headed Druscilla Morley has been cruelly misused and abused by so-called ‘gentlemen’ all her young life. And most recently by the lecherous Lord Walden whose children she was appointed the Governess to.
(It is bad enough that the beautiful Celesta Wroxley and h...)
It is bad enough that the beautiful Celesta Wroxley and her brother, Sir Giles, are alone after their mother had scandalously left their father and ran off with her lover to the disapproval and outrage of Society.
(Young Lady Lettice Burne is outstandingly beautiful with ...)
Young Lady Lettice Burne is outstandingly beautiful with fair hair like sunshine and a flawless pink-and-white complexion. Yet her father, the Earl of Alderburne, desperate to find a wealthy suitor for her to pay off his mountain of accumulated debts, is resigned to the fact that she is immature and empty-headed and therefore unlikely to make the brilliant marriage that he had envisaged for her.
(Half-starved, sickly and pale, the beautiful Lalitha live...)
Half-starved, sickly and pale, the beautiful Lalitha lives in the shadow of her stepsister, the glamorous Lady Sophie Studley, the darling of London’s Beau Monde. Because only Lalitha knows the dark secrets upon which her stepmother, Lady Studley, has built a new life for herself and her daughter.
(When the austere, reserved Drue, the Duke of Warminster, ...)
When the austere, reserved Drue, the Duke of Warminster, is asked by a servant at a Scottish posting inn if he will give a lift to a little old lady whose carriage has broken down, he reluctantly agrees.
(Having survived the 1871 siege of Paris with her mother t...)
Having survived the 1871 siege of Paris with her mother the Queen of Dabrozka, Princess Ilona is summoned back to the war-ravaged kingdom of her father, a tyrannical monarch whose unjust rule has divided the nation into two factions: her own Radák people and the Sáros.
(Society beauty Galatea, ‘the outrageous Lady Roysdon’ is ...)
Society beauty Galatea, ‘the outrageous Lady Roysdon’ is the talk of the town, especially of the Social whirl that surrounds the Prince Regent when his Court arrives in the spring in the fashionable spa town of Brighton.
(Relaxing in the Bohemian spa of Marienbad after a special...)
Relaxing in the Bohemian spa of Marienbad after a special secret mission on behalf of Kind Edward VII, Ian, Lord Arkley is appalled to overhear the sound of a woman being horribly beaten by a man in the adjacent hotel room.
(Although her father is the acclaimed Music Hall performer...)
Although her father is the acclaimed Music Hall performer, Keegan Kenway, his young daughter, Isla, who is ethereally beautiful, is never allowed even to go near the Music Halls, which were not deemed suitable places for a lady to be seen at.
(Although her vast inheritance from her Godmother seemed t...)
Although her vast inheritance from her Godmother seemed to be a blessing, it has become a curse now that Susanna Laven’s pushy mother is determined to marry her against her will to the impoverished Duke of Southampton.
(Amidst the exciting preparations for the grand opening of...)
Amidst the exciting preparations for the grand opening of Prince Albert’s prized Crystal Palace, a young orphan, Sorilda, is being forced into marriage by her recently cuckolded uncle, the Duke of Nuneaton.
(When Bengal Lancers Major Iain Hadleigh first encounters ...)
When Bengal Lancers Major Iain Hadleigh first encounters the beautiful young Brucena Nairn it is on a moving train in India as he forces her back into the carriage to protect her from serious rioting on the platform.
(Demure but pretty Prunella Broughton has long felt respon...)
Demure but pretty Prunella Broughton has long felt responsible for her lovely younger sister, Nanette, since their mother ran away with a lover and then, not long later, their beloved father had died.
(Socialite and ‘professional beauty’, Lady Odele Ashford, ...)
Socialite and ‘professional beauty’, Lady Odele Ashford, is taken aback when her lover, the notorious womanizer Prince Ivan Katinouski, asks her to find him a young bride, who will give him the children he has always wanted, specifying that she must be pure and innocent and of noble English birth.
(Famed for his horse racing successes on the turf and wors...)
Famed for his horse racing successes on the turf and worshipped by London’s Society beauties, the dashingly handsome Marquis of Broome is unjustly renowned as heartless and selfish.
(The lovely Sacha Waverley, the daughter of an impoverishe...)
The lovely Sacha Waverley, the daughter of an impoverished country Vicar, who is a brilliant Greek scholar, is almost as beautiful if in a very demure way as her cousin, Lady Deirdre Lang, who is much more sophisticated and worldly.
(While her beloved parents were alive, the beautiful young...)
While her beloved parents were alive, the beautiful young Cledra Melford had basked in the radiance of their love, barely noticing that they were poor and had to scrape by.
(Ever since the cruel death of her beloved brother, David ...)
Ever since the cruel death of her beloved brother, David at the Battle of Waterloo, Lady Ilina Bury’s father, the fifth Duke of Tetbury, has taken out his grief on her and now he too has died and his will reiterates his contempt of her.
(Lara, the beautiful red-headed daughter of Lord Hurlingto...)
Lara, the beautiful red-headed daughter of Lord Hurlington, a country Parson, is horrified to hear that her friend, Jane, is on the verge of a breakdown after being horribly pursued by the lecherous Lord Magor, a regular guest at The Priory, the fabulous stately home of the Marquis of Keyston, to whose niece Jane is Governess.
(Horribly wounded after robbers murdered her dear father a...)
Horribly wounded after robbers murdered her dear father and left her for dead, the lovely young Atayla is alone and destitute in Morocco at the Tangiers Mission.
(One of the youngest Colonels in the Duke of Wellington’s ...)
One of the youngest Colonels in the Duke of Wellington’s Army, Ivar Harling returns from the victorious Battle of Waterloo to Harlington House in London’s Berkeley Square. Suddenly a very rich man now that he has inherited the Dukedom of Harlington from his cousin, who has been killed in the War, he is also tall and extremely handsome although his years as a soldier have left their mark on him.
(Overworked and exhausted through caring for her ailing fa...)
Overworked and exhausted through caring for her ailing father, the demurely lovely Delysia Langford goes to the family’s London house for a well-deserved rest. But her wayward and beautiful sister, Fleur, has other ideas for her.
(When the imperious Alston, Marquis of Falcon cynically an...)
When the imperious Alston, Marquis of Falcon cynically announces that he is interested in marrying his daughter in order to gain a Royal appointment, the Earl of Warnborough is thoroughly pleased.
When beautiful nineteen-year-old Roberta’s beloved father, the Earl of Wentworth, dies, she is left alone and bereft in North Africa. Now she must travel to America to live with her aunt, Lady Margaret.
(Already abandoned by her father, who long ago had left he...)
Already abandoned by her father, who long ago had left her and her mother for the gaieties and beautiful courtesans of the Second Empire in Paris, the lovely Lady Theresa Holme is lost when her beloved mother dies.
Beautiful, young, impoverished Parson’s daughter, Hermia Brooke, is happy with her simple country life, despite being shunned by her wealthy uncle the Earl of Millbrooke and her cousin, the spoilt and selfish Marilyn.
(Handsome, wealthy and always hotly pursued by London’s So...)
Handsome, wealthy and always hotly pursued by London’s Society beauties, the Duke of Wydeminster is a gentleman very much in demand - yet his affaires de coeur invariably leave him dissatisfied and feeling trapped, especially his current one with the beautiful Fenella Newbury, who is married to a much older husband.
(Shortly after the death of her father the Earl of Weir, b...)
Shortly after the death of her father the Earl of Weir, beautiful young Lady Arletta is penniless, having been ousted from the family estate. Desperate to escape her misery she is heartened to hear that her close friend Jane is to be married to the new Bishop of Jamaica.
(Riding in the woods the beautiful young Farica Chalfont e...)
Riding in the woods the beautiful young Farica Chalfont encounters a handsome yet forlorn gentleman called John Hamilton, whom she is sure is about to commit suicide as he is holding a pistol in his hand.
(After her mother Lottie’s death in Paris, the penniless b...)
After her mother Lottie’s death in Paris, the penniless but beautiful Clova McBlane has no one to turn to, so she decides to head for Scotland to the Clan Lottie abandoned when Clova was just seven.
(On the point of starvation after the death of her father,...)
On the point of starvation after the death of her father, an inveterate gambler who has gamed away all the family fortune, young and beautiful Valessa Chester is literally starving and on the verge of suicide by throwing herself in the river.
(Handsome, athletic and pursued by women wherever he goes,...)
Handsome, athletic and pursued by women wherever he goes, it is hardly surprising that the tall striking Marquis of Kyneston succumbs to the temptation in London of a married beauty called Daphne Burton.
(“You are a very lucky young woman!” demure but beautiful ...)
“You are a very lucky young woman!” demure but beautiful Donela Colwyn’s stepfather tells her condescendingly and then announces that she is to marry his friend, who he is so impressed with, the wealthy and influential Lord Waltingham.
(Orina Vandeholt is young and beautiful and, after the dea...)
Orina Vandeholt is young and beautiful and, after the death of her very successful and much-loved millionaire American father, she finds herself extremely rich.
(Freshly home from her Finishing School in Florence, the b...)
Freshly home from her Finishing School in Florence, the beautiful young Lady Odela Ford finds to her dismay that her new stepmother, the Countess of Shalford, is scheming against her and her beloved father.
(After years of fighting with the Duke of Wellington again...)
After years of fighting with the Duke of Wellington against Napoleon, the Marquis of Melverley has neglected his family seat, preferring his dalliances with London’s Beau Monde beauties.
(Number 37 in the Barbara Cartland Pink Collection Shana, ...)
Number 37 in the Barbara Cartland Pink Collection Shana, the beautiful daughter of Lord Hallam has not yet been a debutante as she has been helping her father write his autobiography.
(Beautiful Jasmina Winfield is a thoroughly modern America...)
Beautiful Jasmina Winfield is a thoroughly modern American girl who likes to make her own decisions. A skilled and daring horsewoman, she is used to taking care of herself and takes orders from no one - especially not a man.
(Can money buy you happiness? Impoverished Lady Viola and ...)
Can money buy you happiness? Impoverished Lady Viola and her twin brother David Northcombe find that their fortunes change dramatically when their entrepreneurial father dies unexpectedly, leaving them a vast fortune that will change their lives forever.
(With Russian, English and Irish blood and described by he...)
With Russian, English and Irish blood and described by her uncle Sir Terence O’Kerry, Head of the India Office as “as mysterious as the Sphinx but as lovely as Cleopatra must have been at that age”, it is no surprise that young Quenella O’Kerry has suitors falling at her feet.
Dame Barbara Cartland was one of the most successful and well-known of all British romance novelists and was undoubtedly the most prolific, writing 723 books in her long lifetime. She was one of the best-selling authors as well as one of the most prolific and commercially successful worldwide of the 20th century.
Background
Dame Barbara Cartland was born Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland in Edgbaston, Birmingham, on July 9, 1901, to Captain Bertram Cartland of the Worcestershire Yeomanry Militia and his wife, Mary Hamilton Scobell, known as "Polly". Cartland had two brothers: Major Ronald Cartland, a Member of Parliament and British Army Major of World War II (1907-1940), and James Anthony "Tony" Hamilton Cartland, (1912-1940). They were reasonably well-off and comfortable, but in 1902, Captain Bertram’s father, James Cartland, lost a fortune in unwise speculation on the Fishguard railway and shot himself one Sunday morning.
As a result, her childhood was spent in relatively reduced circumstances. As the house was in his name, the family moved to a smaller home and Barbara’s brothers, Ronald and Anthony, were born. Barbara was extremely close to Ronald in particular and would be for the rest of his life. Her father, Bertie Cartland, tried without much luck to retrieve the situation through gambling. He enjoyed a modest income as Provincial Secretary of the Primrose League, but maintaining the standards to which he aspired was always a struggle. He was killed in the Great War leaving his widow, Polly, in financial straits with Barbara and her two younger brothers to bring up. Cartland's enterprising mother opened a London dress shop to make ends meet, and to raise Cartland and her two brothers, both of whom were eventually killed in battle in 1940. Cartland's mother, Polly, once remarked: "Poor I may be, but common I am not." The phrase became a sort of unofficial family motto.
Education
Barbara was educated at The Alice Ottley School, and Malvern Girls' College, which she hated. She boarded with families in and around Bath before going to a finishing school on the Solent called Netley Abbey.
In the 1920s, Barbara Cartland became friendly with Lord Beaverbrook (though she refused to be his mistress). This led to a position at the Daily Mail where she gained a column to write on issues of the day. In 1923, she wrote her first novel Jigsaw, which was a great success and was reprinted six times. The success of this book led to greater demand from publishers.
She also began writing and producing somewhat racy plays, one of which, Blood Money (1926), was banned by the Lord Chamberlain's Office. In the 1920s and 1930s, Cartland was a prominent young hostess in London society, noted for her beauty, energetic charm, and daring parties. Her fashion sense also had a part, and she was one of the first clients of designer Norman Hartnell; she remained a client until he died in 1979. He made her presentation and wedding dresses; the latter was made to her own design against Hartnell's wishes, and she admitted it was a failure.
Apart from her journalism, she continued to write novels, though before the war they were not on the whole the sort of books that came to be associated with her when she blossomed as the world's most prolific romantic novelist. Of the central character in one of her books in the 1930s, The Daily Telegraph critic wrote that he was a "sensitive, introspective, idealistic man, miserably lonely, hating pretentiousness, carrying the weight of his riches with dignity and courage".
She tended to write about contemporary life, though a reviewer observed sharply that another novel was "a safe distance from everyday life". Nevertheless, she aspired to be taken seriously as a popular middlebrow novelist, and she often succeeded. Nor did she then write at such a breakneck speed - in 1937, when her son Ian was born, she had completed 17 novels in the 14 years since her debut. Quick work, certainly, but nothing compared with the hundreds of romances that she produced in her seventies and eighties.
During the Second World War from 1939 to 1945, she acted as the Chief Lady Welfare Officer in Bedfordshire whose job included looking after 20,000 servicemen and women.
The greatest tragedy of her life occurred in 1940: both her brothers were killed at Dunkirk. Tony, the younger, was much loved but not in the same almost obsessive way as Ronald. For the next 50 years and more she used to say that Ronald frequently appeared in her dreams and even - she being susceptible to the preternatural - in visions.
She herself took the children to Canada early in the war, but then, characteristically, felt underemployed and cowardly, so managed against all odds to return to England. Here she became a welfare officer with the Women's Voluntary Services.
Her most impressive coup was to organize a wardrobe of white wedding dresses so that girls serving with the forces did not have to get married in uniform. By the end of the war, she had accumulated more than 1,000 dresses. Many of these wartime brides were to write to her on their golden wedding anniversaries to thank her for giving them the chance to wed in white.
A woman's magazine, spurred by this romantic event, asked Barbara to write a historical romance. This was Hazard of Hearts, the first of her novels which belongs decisively in the genre which the world has now come to recognize as Barbara Cartland's own.
From then on she wrote historical Cinderella stories with heroic heroes and heroines, villainous bad guys of both sexes who always got their comeuppance, and happy endings with definite, though understated, sexual connotations. At her most productive, dictating from the depths of her chaise-longue she "wrote" them at the rate of about one every fortnight.
Cartland's image as a self-appointed "expert" on romance drew some ridicule in her later years when her social views became more conservative. Indeed, although her first novels were considered sensational, Cartland's later (and arguably most popular) titles were comparatively tame with virginal heroines and few, if any, suggestive situations. Almost all of Cartland's later books were historical in theme, which allowed for the believability of chastity (at least, to many of her readers).
In 1950, Cartland was accused of plagiarism by author Georgette Heyer, after a reader drew attention to the apparent borrowing of Heyer's character names, character traits, dialogue, and plot points in Cartland's early historical romances. In particular, A Hazard of Hearts (1949), which replicated characters (including names) from Heyer's Friday's Child (1944) and The Knave of Hearts (1950) which, Heyer alleged, "the conception ... , the principal characters, and many of the incidents, derive directly from an early book of my own, entitled These Old Shades, first published in 1926. ... For minor situations and other characters, she has drawn upon four of my other novels." Heyer completed a detailed analysis of the alleged plagiarism for her solicitors, but the case never came to court.
Despite their tame storylines, Cartland's later novels were highly successful. By 1983, she rated the longest entry in Who's Who (though most of that article was a list of her books), and she was named the top-selling author in the world by the Guinness Book of Records. Additionally, in 1976, Cartland wrote 23 novels, earning her the Guinness World Record for the most novels written in a single year.
In 2000, her publishers estimated that since her writing career began in 1925, Cartland had produced a total of 723 titles.
Privately, Cartland took an interest in the early gliding movement. Although aerotowing for launching gliders first occurred in Germany, she thought of long-distance tows in 1931 and did a 200-mile (360 km) tow in a two-seater glider. The idea led to troop-carrying gliders. In 1984, she was awarded the Bishop Wright Air Industry Award for this contribution.
In 1978, Cartland's recording An Album of Love Songs was released through State Records, produced by Sir Norman Newell. The album featured Cartland performing a series of popular standards with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, including "I'll Follow My Secret Heart" and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square".
Cartland left behind a series of 160 unpublished novels, known as the Barbara Cartland Pink Collection. These are being published in ebook format by her son Ian McCorquodale; each month, a new novel is published from the collection.
In 2010, to mark the 10th anniversary of her death, Cartland's first novel, Jig-Saw (first published in 1925), was reprinted.
"As a tribute to Her Majesty the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee and to Barbara’s enduring appeal to romantics everywhere, her publishers have re-released her catalog collection, entitled - "The Eternal Collection." This collection, released beginning in November 2013, includes some novels published at the time Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne in 1952.
Barbara Cartland is considered to be one of the most renowned authors of her time, primarily known for her romantic novels. Her career spans from writing around 700 books which include around 5 autobiographies and several books on cooking, health, vitamins, and beauty. Her recipes were utilized in the House of Commons.
In January 1988, Cartland received the Médaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris, the highest honor of the city of Paris, for publishing 25 million books in France. In 1991, Cartland was invested by Queen Elizabeth II as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in honor of the author's almost 70 years of literary, political, and social contributions.
A waxwork of Cartland was on display at Madame Tussauds, though according to her son Ian, Cartland was displeased because it wasn't "pretty enough".
(Beautiful Jasmina Winfield is a thoroughly modern America...)
2008
Religion
Barbara Cartland was deeply religious all her long life. She never lost her faith or her strong belief in God and in the power of prayer. She was publicly opposed to the removal of prayer from state schools.
Views
Cartland campaigned successfully for nursing home reform, improvement in the salaries of midwives, and the legalization of education for the children of Gypsies.
Quotations:
"Love is even more beautiful than all the hills and lakes of Scotland."
"Everyone falls in love at least once in a lifetime, and it is always a unique, wonderful and spiritual experience."
"The sea can be so beautiful. It stretches from horizon to horizon and goes on forever just like the real true love of a man and a woman for each other."
"When you fall in love, you want to sing with the birds, dance with the fairies, jump over the moon. It is truly the most glorious feeling in the whole wide world."
"Love has inspired great poets, artists, and architects throughout the ages. Love can inspire anyone to greater heights than could ever be possibly imagined."
Personality
Consummately professional to the last, Cartland was a journalist's dream, always ready with a pithy aphorism for every occasion, answering the telephone herself and producing a quotable sentence at a moment's notice.
After originally deciding she would like to be buried in her local parish church, featuring a coffin of marble construction, covered in angels, this was later changed; Cartland was buried in a cardboard coffin, because of her concerns for environmental issues. She was interred at her private estate in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, under an oak that had been planted by Queen Elizabeth I.
Always presenting herself in a pink chiffon gown, plumed hat, blonde wig, and heavy make-up, she became one of Britain's most popular media personalities.
Physical Characteristics:
Cartland was labeled as the pink lady for her love of pink chiffon, clothing, and jewelry. She also wore heavy makeup, with fake lashes and bright eyeshadow.
Interests
Writers
Elinor Glyn
Connections
Cartland was married to Captain Alexander "Sachie" George McCorquodale, on 23 April 1927, a British Army officer from Scotland and heir to a printing old fortune. They divorced in 1933, and he died from heart failure in 1964.
Their daughter, Raine McCorquodale (9 September 1929 – 21 October 2016), who Cartland later alleged was the daughter of George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland or Prince George, Duke of Kent, became "Deb of the Year" in 1947. After the McCorquodale's' 1933 divorce, which involved charges and countercharges of infidelity, Cartland married her former husband's cousin, Hugh McCorquodale, on 28 December 1936. Cartland and her second husband, who died in 1963, had two sons: Ian McCorquodale (born 11 October 1937), a former Debretts publisher, and Glen McCorquodale (born 1939), a stockbroker.
Cartland maintained a long friendship with Lord Mountbatten of Burma, whose 1979 death she said was the "greatest sadness of my life".
Spouse:
Hugh McCorquodale
Ex-husband:
Alexander "Sachie" George McCorquodale
Daughter:
Raine McCorquodale
Son:
Ian McCorquodale
Son:
Glen McCorquodale
Step-Granddaughter:
Princess Diana of Wales
When Cartland learned that her young step-granddaughter, Diana, Princess of Wales, loved reading her novels Cartland began to send early copies for a young Diana to enjoy. However, as an adult, Diana did not invite Cartland to her wedding to the Prince of Wales. Cartland was later openly critical of Diana's subsequent divorce, though the rift between them was mended shortly before Diana's fatal car crash in Paris, in 1997. According to Tina Brown's book on the Princess, Cartland once remarked, "The only books Diana ever read were mine, and they weren't awfully good for her."
