Famous Devon Figures

Lillie Langtry
Emilie Charlotte le Breton was born on the Island of Jersey in 1852. Her father, William, was Dean of Jersey and she was the only daughter in a family of seven. At age 22 Lillie married Edward Langtry and came to live in Torquay at her husband's villa Engadina in 1875. Excitement and change were being demanded in the 1870s and Lillie was to become the 'Jersey Lily', starting with posing as an aesthetic nude model, she came to the attention of the Marquess of Hartington who was bowled over by her beauty and intelligence. She later came to the notice of HRH Prince of Wales who, in 1877, made public that he had taken Lillie as his first mistress. Their liaison lasted three decades and the King is said to have given Dunstone, a Warberries villa in Torquay, to Lillie as a gift. After the King died Lillie lived in Monte Carlo where she died in 1929.