Mary Elsie Moore

Mary Elsie Moore was born October 22, 1889, in Brooklyn, New York, the youngest child of Charles Arthur Moore (1846–1914)[2] and Mary (née Campbell) Moore (1854–1928).[3] Her father was a shipping broker and hardware manufacturer from Connecticut, who went on to become the president of Manning, Maxwell and Moore, a large industrial concern.[4][5]

Her siblings were Charles Arthur Moore Jr. who married Annete Sperry and Elizabeth Hyde (paternal grandfather of actress Glenn Close); Eugene Maxwell Moore, who married Titanic survivor Margaret Graham; and Jessie Ann Moore, who married the son of U.S Navy Admiral Colby Mitchell Chester.

Moore was educated at Mrs. Dow's School in Briarcliff Manor, New York.[4]

On August 15, 1907, Moore married the then Duke of Poli and Guadagnolo Don Marino Torlonia (1861–1933) at Old Orchard, her parents' estate in Belle Haven, Greenwich, Connecticut.[6] She was nicknamed, "the Dollar Duchess" by the media.[5][7] Upon his brother Augusto Torlonia's death in 1926, her husband became the 4th Prince of Civitella-Cesi. Together, the Prince and Princess of Civitella-Cesi had four children:[4]

• Princess Donna Olimpia Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi
• Don Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi (1911–1986),[4] who married Infanta Beatriz of Spain (1909–2002), the daughter of King Alfonso XIII of Spain.
• Princess Donna Cristina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi (1913–1974, was married to banker Daniel Lord from 1935 until 1937.[4][8][5]
• Princess Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi (1916–1960),[4] who married two Americans: Francis Xavier Shields (by whom she had several children, including a son who became the father of the actress Brooke Shields) and Edward Slater.[9]

In 1922, the Duke of Torlonia fought a duel with Count Filippo Lovatelli, the famous Italian sculptor, over a statue of the Duchess, causing an international sensation.[10][11]

The Prince of Torlonia was having an affair.[5] In 1925, the couple separated and in 1926, the Duchess filed for divorce in the United States.[12] Her American citizenship was brought into question,[13] but the Connecticut courts decided that her residence in the state was legal and granted her divorce in February 1928.[14][15]

Once settled in the United States she became a socialite, active in society life in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island.[5] Moore died at her home, 375 Park Avenue in New York City, on December 21, 1941.[4]