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Born on a NSW sheep station, Sheila wedded earls and barons, befriended literary figures and movie stars, bedded a future king, was feted by London and New York society for forty years, and died a Russian princess.
'Her beauty and her boldness shine through this fascinating tale.' - Canberra Times
Vivacious, confident and striking, Sheila Chisholm met her first husband, Francis Edward Scudamore St Clair-Erskine, a first lieutenant and son of the 5th Earl of Rosslyn, when she went to Egypt during the Great War to nurse her brother. Arriving in London as a young married woman, she had the world at her feet—and she enjoyed it immensely. Edward, Prince of Wales, called her 'a divine woman' and his brother, Bertie, the future George VI of England (Queen Elizabeth II's father), was especially close to her. She subsequently became Lady Milbanke and ended her days as Princess Dimitri of Russia. Sheila had torrid love affairs with Rudolph Valentino and Prince Obolensky of Russia and among her friends were Evelyn Waugh, Lord Beaverbrook and Wallis Simpson.
An extraordinary woman unknown to most Australians, Sheila is a spellbinding story of a unique time and a place and an utterly fascinating life.
Author: Robert Wainwright
Paperback Published 4 March 2025 464 pages
'Wainwright has revived a legend.' - The Lady