Alice (Blight) Lowther (1873-1939)

She was known as "Alice the Beautiful" and was portrayed by Edith Wharton as 'Lily Bart' in The House of Mirth. She was born to American parents in Paris and grew up between New York and Newport, with frequent visits to Philadelphia. In 1905, she was married against the wishes of her father who only gave his consent to the wedding because he had to, not because he wanted to. Her husband was the British diplomat Sir Gerard Augustus Lowther, 1st Bt., who was fifteen years her senior and was then serving as First Secretary at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. They honeymooned in Morocco and were the parents of three daughters. In 1907, she was presented at court by the Countess of Crewe to King Edward VII.

From 1908 to 1913, her husband served as Ambassador to Constantinople, during which time she founded the Turkish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and was Chairman of ‘Lady Lowther’s War Relief Fund in Constantinople,’ assisting over 25,000 refugees from Thrace during the Balkan Wars. In London, during World War I, she chaired the Fund for the Relief of Belgian Prisoners in Germany and was the secretary of the American Women’s War Relief Fund. For her work she was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of Shefakat and the Médaille de la Reine Elisabeth. She published two books, Land of the Gold Mohur (1932) and Moments in Portugal, or Land of the Laurel (1939). After her husband died she continued to live at their home, 44 Belgrave Square, London.