Theodora d'Albert, Duchess of Chaulnes

Theodora Mary d'Albert, Duchess of Chaulnes (née Theodora Mary Shonts; March 21, 1882 – 19 October 1966) was an American heiress who married into the French nobility.

Photograph of Theodora (before her marriage), 1900.

Early life

Theodora was born in Washington, D.C., on March 21, 1882. Theodora was the eldest child of Harriet Amelia (née Drake) Shonts and Theodore P. Shonts. Her father was a prominent lawyer who served as President of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company. Her younger sister, Marguerite Shonts,[1] married diplomat Rutherford Bingham (son of New York City Police Commissioner Theodore A. Bingham).[2]

Her maternal grandparents were Mary Jane (née Lord) Drake and Gen. Francis Marion Drake, the Governor of Iowa from 1896 to 1898.[3] Her paternal grandparents were Margaret Nevin (née Marshall) Shonts and Dr. Henry Daniels Shonts,[4][5] a well known pioneer doctor who practiced in Erie, Pennsylvania before moving to Centerville, Iowa in 1861.[4]

Society life
The Château de Dampierre

Beginning in 1906, her family resided at 1526 New Hampshire Avenue in Washington. After her marriage, they moved to Paris and she made her first appearance at the Paris Opera House on 11 April 1908 accompanied by the Duke's sister, the Duchess d'Uzès. Theodora "was wearing her magnificent ruby ornaments presented by her father."[6]

Widowhood

Following her husband's death,[7] she spent the beginning of her widowhood at his family's estate, Château de Dampierre.[8] Upon the birth of her son, President Theodore Roosevelt wrote to Theodora and her father offering his congratulations.[9] In 1911, she rented a villa in Cape May, New Jersey, known as Star Villa, with her mother and sister.[10]

She often traveled back and forth from Europe and vacationed in Hot Springs, Virginia, socializing with the Duchess of Manchester, a fellow American who married into the European aristocracy.[11][12] In 1915, she played a foursome of golf there with the Duchess of Manchester, her sister Marguerite and Isabella May of Washington.[13]

Known for her fashion sense, she was "one of the first to include 'metropolitan' prints in her wardrobe. She has selected the Paris print with the Mona Lisa, the Madeleine and the Eiffel Tower. She is having it made up in her favorite color combination of black and white."[14] She was supported, financially, in her later years by her friend, "Mrs. William Boyce Thompson, wealthy mother of Mrs. Tony Drexel Biddle Jr."[15]

Personal life
Photograph of her husband, Emmanuel d'Albert de Luynes, 1908

On February 15, 1908, Theodora married Emmanuel d'Albert de Luynes, Duke of Chaulnes and Picquigny at 132 East 35th Street, her father's home in New York City.[16][17] He was the son of the late Princess Sophie Galitzine and Paul d'Albert de Luynes, Duke of Chaulnes and Picquigny (who both died young).[18][19] His only sibling, Marie Thérèse d'Albert de Luynes, was married to Louis de Crussol d'Uzès, 14th Duke of Uzès.[20][21] The Duke was "good looking, amiable, well educated, and possessed of charming manners." He had a house in the 8th arrondissement of Paris (in Avenue Van-Dyck in the Parc Monceau quarter) and a château in the French department of Sarthe,[20] but was cash poor.[21] Sadly, the Duke died from heart failure (reportedly due in part to an addiction to morphine pills) on 24 April 1908, less than three months after their marriage, in his apartment in the Hotel Langham in the Rue du Boccador in Paris.[22] Later that same year, Theodora gave birth to their only child:[7]

She never remarried, but was reportedly wooed by poet Andre de Fouquières all through the Deauville season in 1913.[24]

The Duke was interred at Château de Dampierre[25] (from which French thieves stole Rubens and a Raphael paintings in 1952).[26] She lived another fifty-eight years until her death on 19 October 1966.[27]

References
  1. "DINNER FOR MISS SHONTS.; Second of Two Given at the Plaza by Her Father, Theodore P. Shonts". The New York Times. 11 May 1909. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  2. "MISS JANE MORGAN WED TO GEO. NICHOLS; Elder Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.P. Morgan Married in St. John's, Lattingtown, L.I. MARGUERITE SHONTS WEDS The Bride of Rutherfurd Bingham in St. Thomas's--Nuptials of Miss Johns and L.S. Kirtland. Bride Walks with Her Father. Bingham-Shonts. Miss Aileen Sedgwick Weds. Lieut. Commander Dowell Marries. Bride of L.S. Kirtland. Miss Finn Weds Ignace Panzer. Walters--Dauer. Lieutenant Gillespie Weds Miss Burne. Franklin-Kenyon. Mrs. Aphie James Weds. Swan-Pells". The New York Times. 15 November 1917. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  3. "Want Mrs. Shonts's Suit Dropped". The New York Times. 21 September 1920. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  4. "Theodore P. Shonts's Father Dead". The New York Times. 11 January 1910. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  5. Conant, Charles Arthur (1913). The Progress of the Empire State: A Work Devoted to the Historical, Financial, Industrial, and Literary Development of New York. Progress of the Empire State Company. p. 164. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  6. Times, Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph To the New York (12 April 1908). "PARIS SEES NEW DUCHESS.; De Chaulnes and His American Bride Appear at the Opera". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  7. "Duc de Chaulnes Buried". The New York Times. 29 April 1908. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  8. "HEIR TO DUC DE CHAULNES; Son Born to Widowed Duchess, Daughter of Theodore Shonts". The New York Times. 17 November 1908. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  9. "Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Theodore P. Shonts. Theodore Roosevelt Papers. Library of Congress Manuscript Division". www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  10. Times, Special to The New York (28 August 1911). "DUCHESS DE CHAULNES ILL.; Daughter of Theodore P. Shonts, Now at Cape May, Improving". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  11. "CHRISTMAS SHIPS BRING MANY HOME; The Duke of Manchester Says Ulster's 100,000 Men Are Ready to Fight. OPPOSED TO HOME RULE Duchess de Chaulnes and Miss Shonts Among Arrivals ;- Big Santa Claus Mail". The New York Times. 23 December 1913. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  12. Times, Special to The New York (25 October 1916). "DUCHESS ENTERS PROTEST.; Widow of Duke de Chaulnes Takes Up Quarantine Expulsion". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  13. Times, Special to The New York (19 May 1915). "GOLFERS AT HOT SPRINGS.; The Duchess of Manchester and Duchess de Chaulnes Among Players". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  14. "Gray Crepe Leads With Europeans". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. 3 April 1938. p. 77. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  15. Paul, Mary (10 February 1939). "Metropolitan Smart Set". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 19. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  16. Cablegram, Special (28 November 1906). "MISS THEODORA SHONTS WILL BE A DUCHESS; Her Engagement to Duc de Chaulnes Announced. ROMANCE BEGAN IN FRANCE The Bride-to-Be Is the Youngest Daughter of the President of the Panama Canal Commission". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  17. "SHONTS WEDDING PLANS.; Miss Shonts's Marriage to the Duc de Chaulnes to Take Place at Noon Feb. 15". The New York Times. 1 February 1908. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  18. "Maison d'Albert de Luynes". www.europeanheraldry.org. European Heraldry. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  19. "MISS SHONTS BRIDE OF DUC DE CHAULNES; Marriage Ceremony Performed After the French Fashion Before Hundreds of Guests. ONE UNTOWARD INCIDENT Party of Wedding Guests Held Up Between Floors for Fifteen Minutes In the Elevator. MISS SHONTS BRIDE OF DUC DE CHAULNES". The New York Times. 16 February 1908. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  20. Times, Special to The New York (25 March 1907). "MISS SHONTS MAY WED FRENCH DUKE; Her Father Might Consent to Arrange the Customary Settlement. A QUESTION Of HAPPINESS Miss Shonts and Her Mother Show Favor to Titled Suitor -- Duchess May Visit Them". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  21. "Plenty of Romance in the Story of the Next American Duchess; Long Ago Miss Shonts Predicted What is to Happen, While the Duc de Chaulnes Is Rapidly Becoming an American". The New York Times. 24 November 1907. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  22. "Duc de Chaulnes Dies in Arms of Wife". San Francisco Call. Vol. 103, no. 147. 25 April 1908. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  23. TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (18 November 1908). "SHONTS OVERJOYED AT BIRTH OF DUKE; Dances About with Duchesse d'Uzes -- French Relations in Nobility Are Also Happy. BOY IS NAMED FOR FATHER Eleven Members of the Shonts Family in Paris -- Every Courtesy Shown by de Chaulnes's Relatives". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  24. Times, Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph To the New York (23 August 1913). "WOOS AMERICAN DUCHESS.; De Fouquieres's Attentions to Shonts's Daughter Attract Deauville". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  25. "REQUIEM FOR DE CHAULNES.; Celebrated in Presence of Distinguished Assemblage in Paris Church". The New York Times. 28 April 1908. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  26. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (19 July 1952). "FRENCH THIEVES TAKE RUBENS AND RAPHAEL". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  27. "Généalogie des familles nobles | ALBERT de LUYNES" (PDF). jean.gallian.free.fr. 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
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