Nancy Leishman Explained

Nancy d'Oldenburg
Birth Name:	Nancy Louise Leishman
Birth Date:	2 October 1894
Birth Place:	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death Place:	Copenhagen, Denmark
Parents:	John George Alexander Leishman Julia Crawford
Spouse:
Children:	3

Nancy Louise Leishman (October 2, 1894 – February 22, 1983) was an American heiress who married into the European aristocracy.

Early life and relatives

Nancy Louise Leishman was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 2, 1894. She was the youngest of three children born to John George Alexander Leishman (1857–1924) and his wife, Julia Crawford (1864–1918). Her father, the son of Scots-Irish immigrants who eventually became the president of Carnegie Steel, served as the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, and Germany during the administrations of U.S. Presidents William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson.^[1]

Her sister, Marthe Leishman, a favorite of King George V and a close friend of Cole Porter^[2] and Francis Poulenc,^[3] married twice, first to Count Louis de Gontaut-Biron and, after his death, to American heir James Hazen Hyde.^{[4] [5]} Her brother, John Leishman Jr., married, and divorced, New York socialite Elizabeth Helene Demarest.^{[6] [7]}

Her paternal grandparents were John Leishman and Amelia (née Henderson) Leishman, and her maternal grandparents were Edward Crawford and Nancy Harriet (née Ferguson) Crawford.^[1]

Marriages and children

While her father was serving as the American ambassador to Germany, Nancy met and fell in love with Karl (1889-1974), 13th Duke von Croÿ. Since Nancy was a commoner (and an American) and Karl was a duke who ranked among the highest nobility of titled Europeans, the opposition to their marriage was enormous. Karl's aunt, Princess Isabella of Croÿ (wife of Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen),^[8] was chief among the European nobility who vehemently protested the match,^[9] which led Kaiser Wilhelm II to refuse to give his official permission for their marriage.^[10] In July 1912, Karl's sister Princess Isabella Antonie of Croÿ had married Prince Franz of Bavaria (third son of Archduchess Maria Theresia and Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria).

Nevertheless, Nancy and Karl married on 24 October 1913 at Versoix, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland.^[9] As a result of the impasse between the Kaiser and her father over her marriage to Croÿ, her father left his post in Berlin in 1913 and retired to private life. Before their divorce in 1922,^[11] Nancy and Karl were the parents of:

• Carl Emmanuel, 14th Duke von Croÿ (1914–2011),^[12] who married Princess Gabriele, daughter of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria (eldest son of Ludwig III), in 1953.
• Princess Antoinette Emma Laurenzia Charlotte Ludmille Juliette Marthe Helene Sabina von Croÿ (b. 1915), who married Jurgen von Gorne in 1944. They divorced in 1947, and she married Frederick Nelson Tucker in 1948. They divorced in 1956, and she married Douglas Auff'm-Ordt in 1981.
• Princess Marie-Luise Natalie Engelberta Ludmilla Nancy Julie von Croÿ (b. 1919), who married Richard Metz, a son of Herman A. Metz, in 1941.^[13] They divorced in 1949,^[14] and she married H. Nelson Slater III in 1952.^[15] After his death in 1968, she married Frederick Baldwin Adams Jr., son of Frederick Baldwin Adams and Ellen (née Delano) Adams (a first cousin of President Franklin D. Roosevelt), in 1969.^[16]

After the divorce, she lived for three years in the Villa Waldfriede in Wiesbaden.^[17] She married, secondly, Markus Andreas d'Oldenburg (1877–1939), a Danish diplomat^[18] and son of Valdemar Oldenburg.^{[19] [20]} Regardless of the opposition to her first marriage, her son Carl was eventually deemed eligible to inherit the properties of the Croÿ family upon Karl's death in 1974, when Carl became the 14th Duke von Croÿ.^[21]

She died on 22 February 1983 at age 88 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Through her son Carl, 14th Duke von Croÿ, she was a grandmother of Rudolf, 15th Duke von Croÿ (b. 1955), who married Alexandra, a member of the Miloradović noble family.

See also

• List of American heiresses

References

Notes

Sources

Notes and References

1. News: J. G. LEISHMAN DIES; A FORMER DIPLOMAT; Found Dead in Bed of Heart Attack in Hotel at Monte Carlo. . 19 May 2020 . . 28 March 1924.
2. Cole Porter, by Charles Schwartz, page 56.
3. Entrancing Muse, by Carl B. Schmidt, 2001, page 191
4. News: J. HAZEN HYDE WEDS COUNTESS IN PARIS; Marries Widow of L. de Gontaut-Biron, the Daughter of Ex-Ambassador Leishman. PRIVATE CHURCH CEREMONY Bride's Brother-In-Law, Duke of Croy, Gives Her Away ;- Ambassador Herrick Best Man. . 20 May 2020 . . 26 November 1913.
5. News: MRS. MARTHE L. HYDE; Daughter of Late Diplomat Had Been Wife of James Hazen Hyde . 26 August 2019 . . 28 July 1944.
6. News: WED TO LORD ALASTAIR.; Mrs. Helene D. Leishman's Second Marriage in Paris a Surprise. . 26 August 2019 . . 1 May 1918.
7. Book: Beard . Patricia . After the Ball : Gilded Age Secrets, boardroom betrayals, and the party that ignited the Great Wall Street Scandal of 1905 . 2009 . Xlibris Corp . 978-1436357852 .
8. News: Times . Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph To the New York . CROY FAMILY MAY MAKE FINAL EFFORT; But Have Little Hope of Inducing Duke to Break Engagement to Miss Leishman. . 19 May 2020 . . 10 October 1913.
9. News: MISS LEISHMAN WEDS DUKE OF CROY; Ex-Ambassador's Daughter Was Married Very Quietly Yesterday in Geneva, Switzerland. . 19 May 2020 . . 25 October 1913.
10. News: TIMES . Special Cable to THE NEW YORK . TO WED CROY ON OCT. 28.; Arrangements for Miss Leishman's Marriage Made, It Is Reported. . 19 May 2020 . . 9 October 1913.
11. News: Times . the New York Times Company Special Cable To the New York . No French Citizenship for 3 Princes of Croy; Brothers Who Fought as Germans Lose Estate . 20 May 2020 . . 17 February 1922.
12. News: TIMES . Special Cable to THE NEW YORK . SON TO DUCHESS OF CROY.; Husband of Former Miss Leishman Now Serving in Kaiser's Army. . 20 May 2020 . . 7 November 1914.
13. News: PRINCESS CROY ENGAGED; Granddaughter of John Leishman Fiancee of Richard E. Metz . 26 August 2019 . . 20 February 1941.
14. News: RICHARD E. METZ DIVORCED; Former Princess of Croy Gets a Decree in Reno . 26 August 2019 . . 12 June 1949.
15. News: H. Nelson Slater, Textile Executive . 26 August 2019 . . 2 May 1968.
16. News: Frederick Adams, 90, Morgan Library Director . 26 August 2019 . . 25 January 2001.
17. Birgit Funk, Thorsten Reiß: Villa Waldfriede: Eine Spurensuche im Wald. In: Wiesbaden. Gestern, heute, morgen, Nr. 3, 2003,, pp. 16–25.
18. Book: Proceedings of the Conference for the Supervision of the International Trade in Arms and Ammunition and in Implements of War: Held in Geneva, May 4 to June 17, 1925. 1925. Impr. réunies . 99.
19. News: THE FOUR CORNERS OF EUROPE; Italy Pleased With Ambassador Child -- New Roman Rains of Subarban Colony. . 20 May 2020 . . 8 July 1923.
20. Book: Congress . United States . Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress . 1926 . . 2426 . 20 May 2020 . en.
21. News: TIMES . Wireless to THE NEW YORK . REICH DENIES DUCHY TO AMERICAN'S SON; Court Rules Wedding of Nancy Leishman, Envoy's Daughter, to Duke of Croy Mesalliance. TRADITIONAL LAW UPHELD But Decision in Republican Germany Meets Criticism--Duke's Brother, Who Asked Ruling, to Get Estate. . 20 May 2020 . . 18 June 1929.