Alice "Kiki" Preston (née Gwynne, formerly Allen; 1898 – December 23, 1946) was an American socialite, a member of the Happy Valley set, and the alleged mother of a child born out of wedlock with Prince George, Duke of Kent, fourth son of King George V. The child is rumored to be Michael Temple Canfield.Higham, Charles (1988). Wallis: Secret Lives of the Duchess of Windsor, p. 392. Sidgwick & JacksonHorsler, Val (2006). All for Love: Seven Centuries of Illicit Liaison, p. 183. National ArchivesLindsay, Loelia (1961). Grace and Favour: The Memoirs of Loelia, Duchess of Westminster. ReynalBradford, Sarah (2000). America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, p. 84. Viking
Her drug addiction earned her the nickname "the girl with the silver syringe". Preston was a fixture of high social circles in Paris and New York City, and a relative of the prominent Vanderbilt and Whitney families. Preston's life was marred by several tragic losses and her own mental problems, which eventually led to her suicide at age 48.
Biography
Early life Preston was born in 1898 in Hempstead, New York, the daughter of Edward Erskine Gwynne, Sr. (1869 – 10 May 1904)"Recent Deaths", Boston Evening Transcript, May 10, 1904"Miss Alice Gwynne Allen to Become Bride of Pilot Officer Geoffrey Russell, R.C.A.F.", New York Times, June 6, 1943"New York Attracts", Los Angeles Times, October 5, 1941 and his wife Helen Steele (d. January 4, 1958)."Obituary for Mrs. Edward E. Gwynne", New York Times, January 5, 1958 Preston's mother was a great-granddaughter of Justice Samuel Chase, one of the signatories of the United States Declaration of Independence, as well as a granddaughter of Joshua Barney, commodore of the United States Navy during the American Revolutionary War. She was descended from Peter Jacquette, the second Dutch governor of Delaware. Preston's father was the nephew of tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt II and his wife, socialite Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt, making him a distant relation of the wealthy Whitney family.
Preston's parents were married in New York City on May 25, 1896."A Day's Weddings", The New York Times, May 25, 1896 The marriage was a rocky one, and they were separated at some point before reconciling."Judge Gwynne's Grandson Dies Suddenly", The Cincinnati-Times Star, May 11, 1904 Besides Kiki, they also had two sons, one being Edward Erskine Gwynne, Jr. (1899 – 5 May 1948), known as Erskine Gwynne, who later became a writer, the publisher of the magazine Boulevardier, and a columnist for the European edition of the New York Herald Tribune."Erskine Gwynne, 49, Wrote Book On Paris", New York Times, May 6, 1948 Their other son, Edward C. Gwynne,Reports of cases decided in the Court of Appeals of the state of New York, Volume 201 (1911). Banks and Brothers joined the United States Army Air Corps in his early youth and was killed when his aircraft was shot down.McIntyre, O. O. "The World Has Changed", Reading Eagle, January 3, 1947 Between 1898 and 1904, Preston and her family resided at different times in Paris, Nassau County,"Suit on Notes for $40,000", The New York Times, March 17, 1901 and Park Hill in New York.
Family bankruptcy A socialite without regular employment, Preston's father was described as a man who "had extravagant tastes, expended money lavishly and was without business employment", a fact which led his family to legal troubles."Vanderbilt Nephew Absolved by Court", The New York Times, March 22, 1908 In 1899, while in Paris, Gwynne obtained a loan worth several thousand dollars from a jeweler. In February 1901, Gwynne transferred his interest in his property to his mother, Louise Gwynne. In the fall of 1901, the Paris money lender filed suit against Gwynne, for an unpaid loan of nearly $50,000 for diamonds. Shortly after his mother's death, in June 1902, Edward Gwynne filed a petition in bankruptcy, with liabilities of over $56,000 and assets of $57."Edward E. Gwynne Bankrupt", New York Times, June 4, 1902 Two years later, on May 10, 1904, Preston's father died of acute kidney problems at the age of 35, the same day the case of the suit was to be brought up in the court. Preston was five years old at the time."Obituary of Edward E. Gwynne", Los Angeles Times, May 11, 1904"Sues for Gwynne's House", The New York Times, February 19, 1908
After Louise Gwynne's death, the property that had been conveyed to her by her son was held in trust for Preston and her siblings. However, in February 1908, the Paris money lender revived his legal attack against the Gwynnes, demanding their property in lieu of the unpaid loan of $40,000. In March, following a long discussion, the suit against the Gwynnes was dismissed. The judge ruled that the realty transfer performed by Edward to his mother was not made with the intent to defraud creditors. However, he also spoke rather harshly of Preston's father, referring to him as a man who "may have had large expectancies, but seems to have been a drain upon his mother's financial resources".
Following her father's death, Preston was mostly raised in Paris, together with her brothers, although the family occasionally returned to their New York residence for brief periods of time."Youth and Jollity Will Have Their Day Despite the War", Chicago Tribune, November 1, 1914"Pageantry of Weddings and Debutante Affairs", The New York Times, October 25, 1914 Preston was also educated in England."Obituary", Chicago Tribune, December 24, 1946 The money lender continued with a series of court appeals between 1910 and 1912, although the Gwynne family managed to emerge victorious from the lengthy legal battle.
According to writers Lynn Kear and John Rossman, Preston also worked as a cabaret performer in her youth.Kear, Lynn & Jossman, Ross (2006). Kay Francis: A Passionate Life and Career, p. 27. North Carolina: McFarland & Company
Marriages and Happy Valley
In 1919, she married Horace R. Bigelow Allen, after he completed his service with the United States Army."Americans In Divorce Court", The Evening Independent, November 7, 1924 In later years, Allen became an executive in a plastics corporation."Manhattan Suites Draw Executives", New York Times, July 16, 1942 Preston and Horace had a daughter, Alice Gwynne Allen, who later married pilot officer Geoffrey Borden Russell, as well as a son, Ethan Allen.Los Angeles Times, December 16, 1938 Living in Paris with her husband, Preston met and befriended some of the future key members of the Happy Valley set, such as Alice de Janzé and Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll. The Happy Valley set was a community of mainly British expatriates in Kenya, in the Wanjohi Valley close to the Aberdare Mountains, which had become known for its hedonistic lifestyle."Trzebinski, Errol" (2000).The Life and Death of Lord Errol: The Happy Valley Murder, p. 49 Fourth Estate. In November 1924, Preston applied for divorce at the Paris courts, on the grounds of desertion."Seven Seek Divorces in Paris Court", Los Angeles Times, November 7, 1924 Horace R. B. Allen died on December 17, 1961, in Harbour Island, Bahamas.New York Times, December 19, 1961
In April 1925, Preston married investment banker Jerome "Gerry" Preston (15 March 1897 – 28 May 1934), a Harvard alumnus from Colorado,Harvard Alumni Bulletin, Vol. 36, Issue 34 (1934).Picknett, Lynn, Prince, Clive, Prior, Stephen & Brydon, Robert (2002). War of the Windsors: A Century of Unconstitutional Monarchy, p. 58. Mainstream Publishing. . a man later described by writer Frédéric de Janzé in his memoirs as "a creature of instincts" and "untamed".De Janzé, Frédéric (1928). "Vertical Land", Chapter VII Shortly afterwards, she formed a brief but close friendship with actress Kay Francis. Following travel to the British East Africa colony of Kenya, the home of the Happy Valley clique, Preston and her husband were persuaded to permanently move there, after a friend of the couple gave them the land she had on the shores of Lake Naivasha.The Life and Death of Lord Errol: The Happy Valley Murder, p. 79 The Prestons lived in a Dutch-style house they built at the shores of Lake Naivasha and associated with the Happy Valley set.Osborne, Frances (2009). The Bolter, p. 162. Knopf Both she and her husband were successful as big game hunters"My Biggest African Thrill", Los Angeles Times, July 24, 1932 and horse breeders. On their farm, they entertained several guests at times, including actor Gary Cooper on one occasion.Swindell, Larry (1980). The Last Hero: The Biography of Gary Cooper, p. 138. New York: Doubleday Friends of the couple in the community included Alice de Janzé, Lord Erroll and his wife Idina (Preston was often entertained in their mansion), writer Evelyn WaughWaugh, Evelyn, Cooper, Diana & Cooper, Artemis (1992) The Letters of Evelyn Waugh and Diana Cooper, p. 55. Ticknor & Fields and aviator Beryl Markham.Lovell, Mary S. (1987). Straight on Till Morning: The Biography of Beryl Markham. Hutchinson
Preston was a scandalous presence among the Happy Valley set, noted both for her beauty, as well as her wild lifestyle, which included partying all night long, rising from bed during dinnertime and drug abuse. Preston had become a notorious drug addict by that point; taking heroin,Grant, Nellie & Huxley Elspeth (1981). Nellie's Story. Morrow cocaineHastings, Selina (1994). Evelyn Waugh: A Biography, p. 239. Houghton Mifflin and morphine. She was nicknamed "the girl with the silver syringe", due to her habit of always carrying with her a syringe with which she injected herself.Fox, James (1983). White Mischief: The Murder of Lord Erroll, p. 34. Random HouseStraight on Till Morning, p. 129Petropoulos, Jonathan (2006). Royal and the Reich: The Princes von Hessen in Nazi Germany, p. 73. Oxford: Oxford University Press She was reported to often take out the silver syringe to inject herself, oblivious to onlookers. Swedish Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke's second wife Cockie once remarked of Preston: "She's very clever with her needle". Preston was one of the clients of Frank Greswolde Williams, the main drug dealer of the Kenya colony, until his death in 1932. Whenever she was out of morphine, she sent a plane to pick up new supplies.
Preston had many lovers during that time, including actor Rudolph ValentinoOsborne, Frances (2009). The Bolter, p. 161. Knopf and Prince George, Duke of Kent, whom she first met in the mid-1920s. Through 1928, she introduced him to cocaine and morphine among other drugs.Lynn Kear and John Rossman Kay Francis: A Passionate Life and Career, Jefferson: NC: McFarland & Company, 2006, p. 28.Farrant, Leda (1994). Diana, Lady Delamere and the Lord Erroll Murder, p. 77. Publishers Distribution Services.McLeod, Kirsty. Battle Royal: Edward VIII & George VI, Brother Against Brother, p. 122. Constable Reportedly, Prince George had a ménage à trois with Preston and an Argentinian named Jorge Ferrara.Nicholson, Stuart (1999). Reminiscing in Tempo: A Portrait of Duke Ellinson, p. 146. Northeastern University PressBazán, Osvaldo (2004). Historia de la homosexualidad en la Argentina: de la conquista de América al siglo XXI. (in Spanish), p. 180. Marea Editorial.
In an attempt to rescue his cocaine-addicted brother from the influence of Preston, Edward, Prince of Wales tried to persuade George and Preston to break off their relationship, but he was unsuccessful.Ziegler, Philip (2001). King Edward VIII, p. 200. Sutton Eventually, Edward forced George to stop seeing Preston and also forced Preston to leave England, while she was visiting George there in the summer of 1929.Williams, Susan A. (2004). The People's King: The True Story of the Abdication, p. 31. New York: Palgrave Macmillan For years afterwards, Edward feared that George might relapse to drugs if he maintained his contact with Preston. Indeed, in 1932, Prince George ran into Preston unexpectedly at Cannes and had to be removed almost by force.Kiste, John van Der (1991). George V's Children, p. 71. A. Sutton.