Sir Michael Duff, 3rd Baronet
Sir Charles Michael Robert Vivian Duff, 3rd Baronet (3 May 1907 – 3 March 1980) was a British socialite who was Lord Lieutenant first of Caernarvonshire, and then of Gwynedd.
Family
 | This section relies largely or entirely on a single source. (March 2016) |
Duff was the only son of Sir Robert George Vivian Duff, 2nd Baronet, of
He was a godson of
In 1928, Sir Michael assumed the additional surname of Assheton-Smith, only to renounce it in 1945. In 1930, he was a godfather to
He was a practical joker, one of his favourite pranks being to dress up as Queen Mary and pay surprise visits to friends - until he bumped into the Queen herself in a neighbour's hall.[3] He also wrote a light novel, The Power Of A Parasol.
Marriages
Sir Michael Duff-Assheton-Smith, as he then was, married first, on 5 March 1935, the Hon Millicent Joan Marjoribanks (born 1906), daughter of the 3rd and last Baron Tweedmouth. They divorced in July 1936, and the marriage was annulled in 1937.
Sir Michael Duff, as he had subsequently become, married as his second wife, on 14 July 1949, Lady (Alexandra Mary Cecilia) Caroline Paget (1913–73), the eldest daughter of Charles Paget, 6th Marquess of Anglesey, and his wife, Lady Marjorie Manners, the eldest daughter of Henry Manners, 8th Duke of Rutland. They adopted a son, Charles David Duff (b. 1950), who became a theatre historian.
A documentary screened on BBC Two Wales in 2005 (Faenol: Secrets Behind the Wall) featured Charles Duff discussing his childhood, the bisexuality of his adoptive parents, their marriage of convenience, and the details of his parentage. He did not inherit the estate, and when it was sold all the records were burnt, so compounding the mystery. In another interview for the BBC ("Wall Of Silence", BBC Wales website) Charles said of Vaynol: "It was a place of great conviviality and energy and joy." However, by the time Charles was in his teens, Sir Michael had come to believe that his second marriage and the adoption of his son had been grave errors, and according to Charles Duff, "he started to demonise both my mother and myself." Although appearances were maintained, neither could then do much right in Sir Michael's opinion. By this time the house and estate were also in decline. (Prior to the Second World War there had been 17 gardeners.)
The Duff Estate
The Vaynol estate, in northern Wales, close to the Anglesey estate at Plas Newydd, passed out of Duff family hands, the last main portion including the demesne within the walls being sold off in 1984. This had come into the family via Mary Assheton-Smith, niece and heiress of the famous squire Assheton-Smith, the celebrated foxhunter.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "No. 38878". The London Gazette. 4 April 1950. p. 1667.
- ^ "No. 33809". The London Gazette. 18 March 1932. p. 1855.
- ^ Duncan Fallowell & April Ashley, April Ashley's Odyssey, Jonathan Cape, London (1982)
External links
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