The Lady Delamere | |
|---|---|
 Lady Delamere in 1922 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ruth Mary Clarisse Ashley 22 July 1906 Stanmore, London Borough of Harrow, England |
| Died | 10 October 1986 (aged 80) Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England |
| Resting place | St George's Churchyard, Six Mile Bottom |
| Spouse(s) |
Ernest Laurie Gardner
(m. 1940; div. 1943) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent | Wilfrid Ashley, 1st Baron Mount Temple |
Ruth Mary Clarisse Cholmondeley, Lady Delamere (née Ashley, formerly Cunningham-Reid and Gardner; 22 July 1906 – 10 October 1986), was a British heiress and socialite. A granddaughter of German-Jewish banker Sir Ernest Cassel, she inherited an estate including a large manor house in Six Mile Bottom and half of her grandfather's fortune (valued at approximately £50 million in 2020). The Cincinnati Enquirer referred to her as "England's wealthiest girl" when reporting on her first marriage to Captain Alec Cunningham-Reid. She was married three times, becoming a peeress upon her third marriage to Thomas Cholmondeley, 4th Baron Delamere. Lady Delamere was the younger sister of Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma.