London High Society created a fuss when Prince Serge Obolensky married Ava Alice Muriel Astor in Three Ceremonies in London on this day in 1924, 100 years ago, which was the event of the London Season.
Prince Serge Obolensky, son of Prince Platon Sergeyevich Obolensky-Neledinsky-Meletzky and Maria Konstantinovna Naryshkina, married Ava Alice Muriel Astor, daughter of John Jacob Astor IV and Ava Lowle Lister, Baroness Ribblesdale, in three separate Ceremonies at the Registry Office, the Savoy Chapel and the Russian Church in London, with Prince Paul of Yugoslavia serving as the best man. Chips Channon recalled:
“Serge and Alice were married first at nine this morning at the Registry Office, then at the Savoy Chapel and lastly at the Russian Church. Paul of S was best man. There was a small breakfast party at 18 Grosvenor Square at twelve o’clock. Alice looked radiant but lovely. It was a bitter feast and both A and S realised they were surrounded by all the people who had worked against their happiness.
Lady Astor very biting. Alice refused to cut her wedding cake. Lady Cunard remarked ‘No one will cut a cake this season – it’s out of date.’ Mrs Vanderbilt looked uncomfortable. Lady Ribblesdale cried, or pretended to. A most gloomy function. I was with Serge as he changed and he seemed so happy that all the fuss is over. I pray for their happiness: they are both too sweet and guileless for this world. They have gone to Le Touquet and people say it won’t last a year”
Prince Serge Obolensky was previously married to Princess Catherine Alexandrovna Yurievskaya, the youngest morganatic daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, and remained married to Ava Astor until 1932, having one son, Prince Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky.
Alice’s father, John Jacob Astor IV – one of the richest men in America – had built New York’s celebrated St. Regis Hotel. He went down with the Titanic, but Alice’s mother Ava, the formidable Lady Ribblesdale, was very much alive and strongly opposed to her daughter marrying “an impoverished Russian prince”. However, when Alice came of age, she got her way, and their marriage was the wedding of the London Season in 1924. Or rather weddings, for there were three: an Anglican one at the Savoy Chapel, a civil ceremony, and then an Orthodox one at the Russian Church. Alice’s British cousin, Viscount Astor, gave away the bride, while Serge’s old Oxford friend Prince Paul of Serbia was best man. They honeymooned in Deauville, France, and thus began their luxe, but peripatetic, married life spent on ocean liners and yachts, in grand hotels or at their spectacular homes in London and upstate New York.
“Friday 4th July
Motored to stay with Paul [of Serbia]. Serge [Obolensky] and Alice [Astor] were there. Their engagement was announced this morning – after what difficulties. For a year now they have loved each other. They seemed to be radiantly happy, a quiet serene peaceful happiness. Paul and Princess Olga too were so affectionate and so delight in each other’s company. I felt out-of-things and alone and miserable. For this is the last time Serge and I probably had the same room and were ‘chaps’ together. How I love little Alice, so gentle and good – and richer than all the Astors of the past combined.”
The Astor Tiara
Cartier Turquoise Tiara
Diamond and Sapphire Necklace
Westminster Halo Tiara
Devonshire Tiara
Devonshire Diamond Rivière
Ruby Clasp
Wellington Tiara
Diamond Earrings
