THE DUKE OF LEINSTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22498, 16 February 1935, Page 13

THE DUKE OF LEINSTER

FORMER WIFE’S FUNERAL LONDON, February 14. The Duke of Leinster attended the funeral of his ex-wife and stood at tbe graveside beside her postman cousin. Former members of the chorus also attended. The Duke’s wreath was inscribed “ To Gerald’s mother.” The Marquess of Kildare’s wreath was inscribed “With’ love, Gerald.” A previous message stated: A verdict of misadventure was returned at the inquest on May Fitzgerald, aged 43, formerly a .Gaiety star and the divorced wife of the Duke of Leinster, who died as a result of an overdose of sleeping draught. Her mother, in evidence, stated that her daughter worried because she never saw her son, thg Marquess of Kildare, but she was not depressed. She had never threatened to commit suicide. The mother added that her daughter received an allowance from the Duke of Leinster. The newspapers recall that Miss - Fitzgerald was a famous beauty, formerly known as “ The English Rose.” She secretly married the Duke of Leinster in 1913, when she was in the Gaiety chorus. Differences arose in 1922, when he succeeded to the title, resulting in a separation, after which the duchess, despite, an allowance, said that she was forced to sell her jewels, and complained at not being permitted to see her son. She was found in 1930 suffering from gas poisoning in a flat in Brixton, where she was living with a chef, after which the Duke of Leinster was granted a divorce.