Diana Churchill
Diana Spencer-Churchill (11 July 1909 – 20 October 1963) was the eldest daughter of British statesman Sir Winston Churchill and Clementine Churchill, Baroness Spencer-Churchill (née Hozier).
Personal life
She went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where she spent five terms,[1][2] without any real intention to become an actress. On 12 December 1932, she married John Milner Bailey (15 June 1900 East Grimstead – 13 February 1946 Cape Town, South Africa) (became the Bailey baronet Sir John Milner Bailey, 2nd Bt), but the marriage was unsuccessful and they divorced in 1935. On 16 September 1935, she married the Conservative politician, Duncan Sandys (later in life The Lord Duncan-Sandys). After having three children, that marriage also ended and they were divorced in 1960.
On 11 April 1962, her name was legally changed back to Diana Churchill.
Children
From her second marriage to Duncan Sandys, Baron Duncan-Sandys they have three children
- The Honourable Julian Sandys (19 September 1936–15 August 1997) he married Elisabeth Martin in 1970. They have four children:
- Lucy Diana Sandys (1971)
- Duncan John Winston Sandys (1973) he married Mary Brown C. Brewer. They have one son:
- Julian George Winston Sandys (10 April 2008)
- Jonathan Martin Edwin Sandys (1975)
- Roderick Julian Frederick Sandys (1977-9 December 2007)
- The Honourable Edwina Sandys (22 December 1938) she married Piers Dixon in 1960 and were divorced in 1973. They have two sons. She married Richard D. Kaplan in 1985.
- The Honourable Celia Sandys (18 May 1943) she married Michael Kennedy in 1965 and were divorced in 1970. They have one son. She remarried Sir Dennis Walters in 1970 and were divorced in 1979. They have one son. She remarried Maj.-Gen. Kenneth Perkins in 1985. They have two children.
- Justin Kennedy (1967)
- Dominic Walters (1971)
- Alexander Winston Duncan Perkins (1986)
- Sophie Rachel Perkins (1988)
Military service
She was an officer in the Women's Royal Naval Service during the Second World War.
Health problems and death
Diana suffered from several nervous breakdowns. In 1962, she began working with the Samaritans, an organisation created for suicide-prevention. In 1963, she died, at age 54, from an overdose of barbiturates. A coroner later concluded that the death was a suicide.[3] She is buried with her parents (who both outlived her) and siblings at St Martin's Church, Bladon, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire.
References
- ↑ Lovell, Mary S. (Apr 7, 2011). "19". The Churchills: A Family at the Heart of History - from the Duke of Marlborough to Winston Churchill. Hachette UK. ISBN 9780748117116.
- ↑ RADA entry
- ↑ "Mrs. Diana Churchill "Suicided"". The Age. 25 October 1963. Retrieved 6 August 2009.
