Socialite, 93, Starred in Reinhardt’s ‘Miracle’ : ‘20s Beauty Lady Diana Duff Cooper Dies

Lady Diana Duff Cooper, silent film star and British socialite of the Roaring Twenties who was celebrated worldwide for her classic beauty, has died at the age of 93.

Her only son, writer and broadcaster John Julius Norwich, said she died “simply of old age” at her home in west London on Monday.

Lady Diana was the silent star of a vast spectacle drama, “The Miracle,” with which she toured major cities on two continents for 12 years.

She had not a line of dialogue but audiences in the 1920s in America and Europe were content simply to gaze on the legendary beauty so artfully showcased as “The Madonna” by producer Max Reinhardt.

She was born Aug. 29, 1892, the youngest daughter of the 8th Duke of Rutland.

The great and powerful of Victorian and Edwardian England were house guests during her childhood--Cecil Rhodes, Prime Minister Lord Salisbury, Arthur Balfour and George Meredith, the writer, at whose funeral she was consoled by J. M. Barrie and Winston Churchill.

“I am very conscious of having had a wonderful life,” Lady Diana said in her late 80s.

During the 1930s, she was frequently mentioned as a possible bride for the Prince of Wales. She accompanied him and his future bride, Wallis Simpson, on a celebrated cruise during his brief reign as Edward VIII.

Great titles and fortunes were proffered, but Lady Diana took the view that youth was intended for pleasure and her group was known as “The Coterie” until World War I broke out.

She served as a nurse at Guy’s Hospital and fell in love, as her mother had feared, with a young diplomat of moderate means, Alfred Duff Cooper.

He was decorated for heroism in the war and they were married June 2, 1919, at fashionable St. Margaret’s in London with her mother, the duchess, under sedation.

It was a happy marriage, but money was always a problem, considering the circles in which they moved. To help out financially, she appeared in two American-financed silent films that led to her role in “The Miracle.”

Her husband, who served in Parliament, in various Cabinet positions and as ambassador to France from 1944 to 1947, was created Viscount Norwich in 1952 and she officially became the Dowager Countess of Norwich.

In her 80s she was fined $60 for a road accident, her first in 60 years, but continued to drive her own little car. She said she needed it to visit her friends.

“A lot of friends are dying and those who aren’t are losing their marbles,” she said. “It’s really my profession now, visiting the marble-less.”