Irene (on left) and Cynthia Curzon wearing jewels to be sold at Bonhams. (Click on image to enlarge).
The photographs of Cynthia and Irene Curzon, elder daughters of Indian Viceroy and later British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon (1859-1925), show them wearing pearls, rubies and diamonds to be sold at Bonhams in London on April 24.
Their wealth and social position put them at the centre of the British political scene. Guests at the 1920 wedding of Cynthia (1896-1933) to Oswald Mosley included King George V and Queen Mary, Leopold III and the King and Queen of the Belgians. In 1924 the Mosleys joined the Labour Party and she campaigned with her husband (Mosley had earlier fallen out with the Conservative Party over their use of the Black and Tans in Ireland). Her costly dress was often remarked upon during these political campaigns and their lavish lifestyle often attracted negative comment. After their third child was born in 1932 Cynthia was shattered to discover her husbands affair with Diana Guinness, one of the Mitford sisters. She died in 1933 of peritonitis after undergoing appendix surgery. Mosley later married Diana Mitford. Irene Curzon became surrogate mother to the children and when Mosley (now leader of the British Union of Fascists) was interned along with Diana in 1940 she became their official guardian.