Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł

Prince Stanisław Albrecht "Stash" Radziwiłł (21 July 1914 – 27 July 1976) was a scion of the Polish princely House of Radziwiłł, born in Szpanów, Ukraine (then the Volhynian Governorate of the Russian Empire).

His parents were Janusz Franciszek, Prince Radziwiłł (1880–1967) and Anna, Princess Lubomirska (1882–1947). Stanisław had two elder brothers, Edmund Radziwill (1906–1971) and Ludwik Radziwill (1911–1928). His mother, who also came from a Polish noble family, died in a Soviet labour camp.

Marriages

Radziwill was married three times. His first wife was Rose de Monléon (1913-1996),^[1] a daughter of Count Guy de Monléon and a niece-in-law of Irina Ovtchinnikova, first wife of her uncle Jehan (later Princess Peter of Greece and Denmark). They married in 1940 and divorced in 1945; the marriage was annulled in 1958. She later married Baron de Chollet, a Swiss banker.^[2]

His second wife was Grace Maria Kolin (b. 1923), whom he married in 1946 and divorced in 1959. They had one son, Jan Stanisław Albrycht Radziwiłł (b. 1947). She later married William Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley (1894–1969) as his third wife,^[3] and since the death of Lord Dudley, she has been linked with Robert B. Silvers.^[4][5]

For the third time, he was married on 19 March 1959, in Fairfax, Virginia, to Caroline Lee Bouvier Canfield (1933—), sister-in-law of President John F. Kennedy; they divorced in 1974. They had two children, Anthony Radziwill (married Carole Ann DiFalco) and Anna Christina Radziwill (married to Ottavio Arancio, 1999-2005).

Later life

Radziwill was one of the organisers of the Sikorski Historical Institute in London^[6] and founder of St. Anne's Church at Fawley Court, the site of Divine Mercy College, a school for boys of Polish origin, set up by the Marian Fathers in 1953 near Henley-on-Thames, England.

He died on 27 July 1976, in London at the age of 62. His body was interred in the crypt of St Anne's Church at Fawley Court.^[7] As of 2010 the Marian Fathers were seeking authorisation to exhume the body following the closure of Divine Mercy College (in 1986) and the sale of Fawley Court (2010).

Title

Upon becoming a British subject and in keeping with standard practice, Radziwill required permission to use his princely title from Queen Elizabeth II,^[8] but did not receive special dispensation and was known in Britain as Mr. Radziwill legally and as Prince Radziwill by courtesy.

Ancestry

See also

• Sikorski Museum

References