Nancy Louise Leishman was the daughter of John George Alexander Leishman and his wife, Julia Crawford, the daughter of Edward Crawford and Nancy Harriet (née Ferguson) Crawford, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She married Carl Rudolf, 13th Duke of Croÿ. As the marriage was not deemed "equal" by German standards, it was met with opposition from members of the nobility. Carl's aunt, the formidable Princess Isabella of Croÿ, wife of Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen, was among those who opposed the match. Nancy and the Duke were divorced and she was married secondly to Andreas d'Oldenberg, the Danish Ambassador to France.
Regardless of the opposition to her first marriage, her son by that marriage was eventually deemed eligible to inherit the properties of the family. Nancy's husband, Carl Rudolf, died in 1974 and was succeeded by their son, Carl-Emanuel, 14th Duke of Croÿ, who was married to Princess Gabriele, daughter of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria.
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A WOMAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY
The recent decision of the French courts denying the right to French citizenship and to ownership of a magnificent estate in Northern France makes the duchess of Croy, the former Miss Nancy Leishman, one of the notable rich and beautiful American heiresses who have become the wives of foreign noblemen, a woman without a country.
Her plight is singularly like that of the character in Edward E. Hale's story, The Man Without a Country. But the former Nancy Leishman is even worse off than this character of fiction. Besides declaring that it does not want her or her husband or any of his brothers as citizens, the French government condemns her to poverty through its refusal to surrender the valuable estate which it seized shortly after the war began.
The difficulties in which the former Miss Leishman finds herself are due to the fact that the family into which she married is one that has branches in several European countries, France, Germany, Belgium, Hungary and in Spain. It has the blood of at least five nations flowing in its veins as a result of generations of intermarrying. When the war broke out the duchess husband, Charles Rudolphe du Croy, and his two brothers were living in Germany. They entered the German army, and this led to the French government regarding them as alien enemies. The duke of Croy and his fellow princes declared they had been forced to enter the German army under penalty of death, and insisted they had always been loyal to France. But suits to establish their claims have failed.
The duchess lost her American citizenship when she was married to a foreigner. France has declared that it wants nothing of her, and Germany will doubtless be equally unwilling to accept her as a citizen since her husband and his brothers have declared their loyalty to France. The great estate which France has refused to surrender is one on whose rehabilitation the duchess has spent a large share of her personal fortune.
The duchess is a daughter of John G. Leishman, a millionaire of Pittsburgh, Pa., who served as minister to Switzerland, and later as an ambassador to Turkey, Italy and Germany.
The Bradford County Telegraph
Starke, Florida
Friday April 7, 1922 Page 2
Regardless of the opposition to her first marriage, her son by that marriage was eventually deemed eligible to inherit the properties of the family. Nancy's husband, Carl Rudolf, died in 1974 and was succeeded by their son, Carl-Emanuel, 14th Duke of Croÿ, who was married to Princess Gabriele, daughter of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria.
*******
A WOMAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY
The recent decision of the French courts denying the right to French citizenship and to ownership of a magnificent estate in Northern France makes the duchess of Croy, the former Miss Nancy Leishman, one of the notable rich and beautiful American heiresses who have become the wives of foreign noblemen, a woman without a country.
Her plight is singularly like that of the character in Edward E. Hale's story, The Man Without a Country. But the former Nancy Leishman is even worse off than this character of fiction. Besides declaring that it does not want her or her husband or any of his brothers as citizens, the French government condemns her to poverty through its refusal to surrender the valuable estate which it seized shortly after the war began.
The difficulties in which the former Miss Leishman finds herself are due to the fact that the family into which she married is one that has branches in several European countries, France, Germany, Belgium, Hungary and in Spain. It has the blood of at least five nations flowing in its veins as a result of generations of intermarrying. When the war broke out the duchess husband, Charles Rudolphe du Croy, and his two brothers were living in Germany. They entered the German army, and this led to the French government regarding them as alien enemies. The duke of Croy and his fellow princes declared they had been forced to enter the German army under penalty of death, and insisted they had always been loyal to France. But suits to establish their claims have failed.
The duchess lost her American citizenship when she was married to a foreigner. France has declared that it wants nothing of her, and Germany will doubtless be equally unwilling to accept her as a citizen since her husband and his brothers have declared their loyalty to France. The great estate which France has refused to surrender is one on whose rehabilitation the duchess has spent a large share of her personal fortune.
The duchess is a daughter of John G. Leishman, a millionaire of Pittsburgh, Pa., who served as minister to Switzerland, and later as an ambassador to Turkey, Italy and Germany.
The Bradford County Telegraph
Starke, Florida
Friday April 7, 1922 Page 2
Nancy Louise Leishman was the daughter of John George Alexander Leishman and his wife, Julia Crawford, the daughter of Edward Crawford and Nancy Harriet (née Ferguson) Crawford, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She married Carl Rudolf, 13th Duke of Croÿ. As the marriage was not deemed "equal" by German standards, it was met with opposition from members of the nobility. Carl's aunt, the formidable Princess Isabella of Croÿ, wife of Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen, was among those who opposed the match. Nancy and the Duke were divorced and she was married secondly to Andreas d'Oldenberg, the Danish Ambassador to France.
Regardless of the opposition to her first marriage, her son by that marriage was eventually deemed eligible to inherit the properties of the family. Nancy's husband, Carl Rudolf, died in 1974 and was succeeded by their son, Carl-Emanuel, 14th Duke of Croÿ, who was married to Princess Gabriele, daughter of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria.
*******
A WOMAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY
The recent decision of the French courts denying the right to French citizenship and to ownership of a magnificent estate in Northern France makes the duchess of Croy, the former Miss Nancy Leishman, one of the notable rich and beautiful American heiresses who have become the wives of foreign noblemen, a woman without a country.
Her plight is singularly like that of the character in Edward E. Hale's story, The Man Without a Country. But the former Nancy Leishman is even worse off than this character of fiction. Besides declaring that it does not want her or her husband or any of his brothers as citizens, the French government condemns her to poverty through its refusal to surrender the valuable estate which it seized shortly after the war began.
The difficulties in which the former Miss Leishman finds herself are due to the fact that the family into which she married is one that has branches in several European countries, France, Germany, Belgium, Hungary and in Spain. It has the blood of at least five nations flowing in its veins as a result of generations of intermarrying. When the war broke out the duchess husband, Charles Rudolphe du Croy, and his two brothers were living in Germany. They entered the German army, and this led to the French government regarding them as alien enemies. The duke of Croy and his fellow princes declared they had been forced to enter the German army under penalty of death, and insisted they had always been loyal to France. But suits to establish their claims have failed.
The duchess lost her American citizenship when she was married to a foreigner. France has declared that it wants nothing of her, and Germany will doubtless be equally unwilling to accept her as a citizen since her husband and his brothers have declared their loyalty to France. The great estate which France has refused to surrender is one on whose rehabilitation the duchess has spent a large share of her personal fortune.
The duchess is a daughter of John G. Leishman, a millionaire of Pittsburgh, Pa., who served as minister to Switzerland, and later as an ambassador to Turkey, Italy and Germany.
The Bradford County Telegraph
Starke, Florida
Friday April 7, 1922 Page 2
Regardless of the opposition to her first marriage, her son by that marriage was eventually deemed eligible to inherit the properties of the family. Nancy's husband, Carl Rudolf, died in 1974 and was succeeded by their son, Carl-Emanuel, 14th Duke of Croÿ, who was married to Princess Gabriele, daughter of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria.
*******
A WOMAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY
The recent decision of the French courts denying the right to French citizenship and to ownership of a magnificent estate in Northern France makes the duchess of Croy, the former Miss Nancy Leishman, one of the notable rich and beautiful American heiresses who have become the wives of foreign noblemen, a woman without a country.
Her plight is singularly like that of the character in Edward E. Hale's story, The Man Without a Country. But the former Nancy Leishman is even worse off than this character of fiction. Besides declaring that it does not want her or her husband or any of his brothers as citizens, the French government condemns her to poverty through its refusal to surrender the valuable estate which it seized shortly after the war began.
The difficulties in which the former Miss Leishman finds herself are due to the fact that the family into which she married is one that has branches in several European countries, France, Germany, Belgium, Hungary and in Spain. It has the blood of at least five nations flowing in its veins as a result of generations of intermarrying. When the war broke out the duchess husband, Charles Rudolphe du Croy, and his two brothers were living in Germany. They entered the German army, and this led to the French government regarding them as alien enemies. The duke of Croy and his fellow princes declared they had been forced to enter the German army under penalty of death, and insisted they had always been loyal to France. But suits to establish their claims have failed.
The duchess lost her American citizenship when she was married to a foreigner. France has declared that it wants nothing of her, and Germany will doubtless be equally unwilling to accept her as a citizen since her husband and his brothers have declared their loyalty to France. The great estate which France has refused to surrender is one on whose rehabilitation the duchess has spent a large share of her personal fortune.
The duchess is a daughter of John G. Leishman, a millionaire of Pittsburgh, Pa., who served as minister to Switzerland, and later as an ambassador to Turkey, Italy and Germany.
The Bradford County Telegraph
Starke, Florida
Friday April 7, 1922 Page 2
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