THE “PERFECT LOVER”

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 208, 30 May 1936, Page 24

THE “PERFECT LOVER”

A Polo Tragedy

In full view of his bride, whom he had married little more than a month previously, Prince Serge Mdivani, eldest of the three Mdivani brothers, met his death in a polo accident at Del Ray beach, Florida, recently. The prince, who was only 33, was skippering a team of Georgians against a Texas team. He and Mr. Cecil Smith, one of his opponents, were riding full tilt down the field, when the prince made a daring swerve across the line of play at right angles. It was impossible for his opponent to avoid a collision, and the prince was flung from his pony. The spectators gasped, but there came a sigh of relief as he was seen struggling to his feet. A moment later, however, the relief changed to horror Mien the pony lashed out wildly with its hoofs and caught the prince full on t he back of the head. ' Doctors rushed to the scene, but he died within ten minutes from cerebral haemorrhage. His 25-year-old bride, Louise van Alen, cx-wife of his brother, Prince Alexis, who was killed in a car accident in Spain last year, was at her husband’s side while doctors did what they could for him. When told there was no hope, sin* collapsed. '

It was revealed after the accident that Prince Serge had disregarded all warnings not to ride wild polo ponies. Mr. Robert O’Malley, his secretary at Los Angeles, stated: “Only ten days ago I warned him against riding ungovernable ponies. , “He laughed and said 1 was too cautions. By throwing caution to the winds he sacrificed his life. Prince Serge had just added 19 new ponies to his string of 34 and was very proud of them.” Women have described Prince Serge as a man of dynamic personality, who might have made a great career in the films as “the perfect lover.” He was married three times. His first wife was Miss Pola Negri, who, on her marriage to him in 1927, stated: — “I have been engaged to Charles Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino, but these passing whims cannot compare with my love for Prince Serge.” Following a divorce the prince was married secretly in 1931 to Miss Mary McCormick, the American opera singer. In 1933 she was granted a divorce Ho was married to Louise van Alon on February S last. She is a granddaughter of Mr. John Jacob Astor, and one of America’s leading heiresses. The only surviving Mdivani brother, Prince David, was at one time the husband of Miss Mae Murray, the film actress.