Boy Capel
Encyclopedia
Captain Arthur Edward "Boy" Capel CBE
(died 22 December 1919) was an English polo
player, possibly best-remembered for being a lover and muse
of fashion designer Coco Chanel
.
but no connection has been established. He was already an apparently wealthy self-made man by 1909. An alumnus of Beaumont College
, Capel was killed in an auto accident on Monday 22 December 1919, allegedly en route to a Christmas rendezvous with Chanel. He was buried with full military honours at Fréjus
Cathedral on 24 December 1919.
Capel was portrayed by French actor Olivier Sitruk
in Coco Chanel
(2008), an American television movie
about Chanel produced by Lifetime Television
and starring Shirley MacLaine
as an elder Chanel. In the theatrical feature film Coco avant Chanel
(2009), starring Audrey Tautou
as Chanel, Alessandro Nivola
plays Capel and in Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky
his part is played by Anatole Taubman
.
. Capel financed Chanel's first shops and his own clothing style, notably his blazers, inspired her creation of the Chanel look. The couple spent time together at fashionable resorts such as Deauville
, but he was never faithful to Chanel.
Their relationship lasted nine years, and even after Capel married he continued his affair with Chanel until his death in late 1919. A roadside memorial was placed at the site of the accident, consisting of a cross bearing the inscription "A la mémoire du capitaine Arthur Capel, légion d'Honneur de l'armée britannique, mort accidentellement en cet endroit le 22 décembre 1919."
and widow of Captain Percy Lyulph Wyndham (killed in action, 1914), who was the half-brother of the Duke of Westminster
. Diana's elder sister Laura was married to Lord Lovat
, and another sister to Sir Mathew Wilson, 4th Baronet: after Capel's death, in 1923 Diana married Vere Fane, 14th Earl of Westmorland
.
Capel had two daughters:
Arthur Capel's living descendants today include the Honourable Mrs Patrick Tritton (daughter of his elder daughter Ann) and three sons by his younger daughter June, Lady Hutchinson.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(died 22 December 1919) was an English polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
player, possibly best-remembered for being a lover and muse
Muse
The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
of fashion designer Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a pioneering French fashion designer whose modernist thought, menswear-inspired fashions, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her an important figure in 20th-century fashion. She was the founder of one of the most famous fashion brands, Chanel...
.
Biography
In his daughter's obituary, Capel was described as "an intellectual, politician, tycoon, polo-player and the dashing lover and sponsor of the fashion designer Coco Chanel.". Nothing else is known of his earlier life. There are hints in biographies of Chanel about Capel's reputed (illegitimate) connections with the Capel Earls of EssexEarl of Essex
Earl of Essex is a title that has been held by several families and individuals. The earldom was first created in the 12th century for Geoffrey II de Mandeville . Upon the death of the third earl in 1189, the title became dormant or extinct...
but no connection has been established. He was already an apparently wealthy self-made man by 1909. An alumnus of Beaumont College
Beaumont College
Beaumont College was a Jesuit public school in Old Windsor, Berkshire, England. In 1967 the school closed. The property became a conference centre, and from 2008 an hotel.-History of the estate:...
, Capel was killed in an auto accident on Monday 22 December 1919, allegedly en route to a Christmas rendezvous with Chanel. He was buried with full military honours at Fréjus
Fréjus
Fréjus is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, effectively forming one town...
Cathedral on 24 December 1919.
Capel was portrayed by French actor Olivier Sitruk
Olivier Sitruk
Olivier Sitruk , is a French comedian, actor, and producer, who has appeared in 44 films and television shows....
in Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel (film)
Coco Chanel is a 2008 television film directed by Christian Duguay and written by Ron Hutchinson, Enrico Medioli and Lea Tafuri. It stars Shirley MacLaine as Coco Chanel, the pioneering French fashion designer....
(2008), an American television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
about Chanel produced by Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...
and starring Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
as an elder Chanel. In the theatrical feature film Coco avant Chanel
Coco avant Chanel
Coco Before Chanel is a 2009 French film directed by Anne Fontaine, about the early life of the famed French fashion designer Coco Chanel....
(2009), starring Audrey Tautou
Audrey Tautou
Audrey Justine Tautou is a French model and film actress, best known for playing the title character in the award-winning 2001 film Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain, Sophie Neveu in the 2006 thriller The Da Vinci Code, Irène in Priceless and Coco Chanel in Coco avant Chanel...
as Chanel, Alessandro Nivola
Alessandro Nivola
Alessandro Antine Nivola is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles in the films Best Laid Plans, Jurassic Park III, Face/Off, and the first two films of the Goal! trilogy.-Personal life:...
plays Capel and in Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky is a 2009 French film directed by Jan Kounen. It was chosen as the Closing Film of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, and was shown on 24 May 2009....
his part is played by Anatole Taubman
Anatole Taubman
Anatole Taubman is a Swiss actor, who has appeared in many films, such as a henchman in the latest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace and as the monk Remigius in the TV miniseries The Pillars of the Earth.-References:...
.
Capel and Chanel
His affair with Chanel apparently began in 1909, when he became acquainted with Chanel, then the 26-year-old mistress of his friend Etienne BalsanÉtienne Balsan
Étienne Balsan was a French socialite and heir. He came from the family of wealthy industrialists from Châteauroux who provided the army with uniforms and originated the famous cloth known as "blue horizon." Balsan is best known in the present day as having kept Coco Chanel as his mistress...
. Capel financed Chanel's first shops and his own clothing style, notably his blazers, inspired her creation of the Chanel look. The couple spent time together at fashionable resorts such as Deauville
Deauville
Deauville is a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and...
, but he was never faithful to Chanel.
Their relationship lasted nine years, and even after Capel married he continued his affair with Chanel until his death in late 1919. A roadside memorial was placed at the site of the accident, consisting of a cross bearing the inscription "A la mémoire du capitaine Arthur Capel, légion d'Honneur de l'armée britannique, mort accidentellement en cet endroit le 22 décembre 1919."
Marriage and children
In 1918, Capel married the Honourable Diana Wyndham, née Lister (born 7 May 1893—died 1983), a daughter of Lord RibblesdaleThomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale
Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale , was a British Liberal politician.-Background:Born in Fontainebleau, France, Ribblesdale was the eldest son of Thomas Lister, 3rd Baron Ribblesdale, and his wife Emma daughter of William Mure, and succeeded his father in the barony in 1876.-Political...
and widow of Captain Percy Lyulph Wyndham (killed in action, 1914), who was the half-brother of the Duke of Westminster
Duke of Westminster
The title Duke of Westminster was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. The current holder of the title is Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster....
. Diana's elder sister Laura was married to Lord Lovat
Lord Lovat
Lord Lovat is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1458 for Hugh Fraser. The title descended in a direct line for nine sequential generations until the death of the ninth Lord in 1696. He was succeeded by his great-uncle, the tenth Lord...
, and another sister to Sir Mathew Wilson, 4th Baronet: after Capel's death, in 1923 Diana married Vere Fane, 14th Earl of Westmorland
Vere Fane, 14th Earl of Westmorland
Lieutenant-Commander Vere Anthony Francis Fane, 14th Earl of Westmorland , styled Lord Burghersh until 1922, was a British peer....
.
Capel had two daughters:
- Ann Diana France Ayesha Capel (28 April 1919 — 4 May 2008). Ann was married three times and had children with her first two husbands. In 1940 she married her first husband, George WardGeorge Ward, 1st Viscount Ward of WitleyGeorge Reginald Ward, 1st Viscount Ward of Witley, PC , styled The Honourable George Ward until 1960, was a British Conservative politician...
(1907–1988), who in 1960 was raised to the peerage Viscount Ward of Witley. Ann and Ward divorced in 1951. She had two children with him: a son who died unmarried in his parents' lifetime at the age of 40, and a daughter. On 7 August 1951 she married Richard Thurstan Holland-Martin (born December 26, 1908 — died 1968), by whom she had two sons: Barnaby Robert (born 1952) and Giles Thurstan (born 1955 — died 4 May 2008); they divorced in 1966. Ann Capel's third and final husband was Peter Higgins. - June Capel (born 1920 — died 26 September 2006), later Lady Hutchinson of Lullington. June was born after her father died, and he was apparently even unaware of her conception. Thus, he made no provisions for her in his will, and the will had to be contested to ensure that June got her fair share of her father's fortune (most of it subsequently stolen by a lawyer, according to Lady Hutchinson's obituary). In 1948 June Capel married Franz Osborn, by whom she had a son Christopher. Her second marriage took place in May 1966 to Jeremy HutchinsonJeremy Hutchinson, Baron Hutchinson of LullingtonJeremy Nicolas Hutchinson, Baron Hutchinson of Lullington QC is a British lawyer.-Education:Hutchinson was educated at Stowe School and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with a Master of Arts in philosophy, politics and economics.-Career:He was Called to the Bar, Middle Temple in 1939...
, QCQueen's CounselQueen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(born 28 March 1915). Hutchinson was the former husband of actress Peggy AshcroftPeggy AshcroftDame Peggy Ashcroft, DBE was an English actress.-Early years:Born as Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft in Croydon, Ashcroft attended the Woodford School, Croydon and the Central School of Speech and Drama...
. and was created a life peerLife peerIn the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
on 16 May 1978 with the title Baron Hutchinson of Lullington, of Lullington in the County of East Sussex.
Arthur Capel's living descendants today include the Honourable Mrs Patrick Tritton (daughter of his elder daughter Ann) and three sons by his younger daughter June, Lady Hutchinson.