She Was A Femme Fatale
Like a sizzling femme fatale, Diana Caldwell grazed her way through a stunning number of rich men, heartlessly giving up one just as she met another. It’s hard to say what she liked more: playboys with lots of money or older men with tons of money. When she and her husband arrived in Kenya’s Happy Valley, the coven of hedonistic aristocrats welcomed her as one of their own—and then she caused a scandal that would rock the world of even these debauched residents.
1. Her Mother Was A Beauty
Diana Caldwell, born on December 22, 1913, grew up in Hove, England, and there was a very good reason. You see, her mom, Marjorie Caldwell, had been a big deal in London society. She was a real beauty, and her husband, Major Josiah Seymour, wanted to get her away from the temptations of living in London.
But maybe he was trying to get away from the temptations of his own.
2. Her Dad Had A Vice
Caldwell’s dad, Josiah Seymour Caldwell, had the word “major” attached to his name, but this could easily have stood for "major gambler”. You see, he didn’t have much of a profession besides gambling the family money away. Sadly, Caldwell would inherit her father’s lack of self-control.
3. She Had A Day Job
At 18, after finishing school, Diana Caldwell moved to London, where the action was. She loved fashion, and she put her outfits together with precision. This skill led to her first job, where she was a model for one of the fashion houses. That was how she spent her days.
For the nights, Caldwell went somewhere a little steamier.
4. She Managed
Even though she was just 18, Caldwell’s evening job was as a manager of a jazz cocktail bar called the Blue Goose. There was something about Caldwell that made people enjoy themselves when she was around. This helped her at the bar. But it also helped her move up in the world.
5. She Mixed With the Rich
Working at the bar, Caldwell met clients from the upper classes. She entertained them so well at the bar that invitations started pouring in. They wanted her to join them on the weekends in their large country houses. Spending time in the countryside earned her a reputation as a good dancer and a horsewoman.
Caldwell’s days of flying under the radar were over.
6. She Got Covered
Tatler magazine was famous for following the lifestyle of the rich and privileged, and they started following Caldwell’s every move. The reading public saw her at society balls, opulent weddings, race meetings, and charity events. Surprisingly, they even had pics of her hunting game.
Of course, she also hunted men.
7. She Didn’t Want Just One
Diana Caldwell was having the time of her life, and she didn’t want to spend it with just one man. Tatler magazine had photos of her on the arms of various men. All the men had one thing in common: they were wealthy. But soon, England and the men there became boring. Caldwell had to set her eye on other places for her enjoyment.
8. She Flew
Somewhere along the way, Caldwell had picked up a rather expensive hobby: she learned to fly planes. So, when England got too boring for her, she piloted airplanes to places in Europe where she could have even more fun. This travel led her into the company of men from various parts of Europe. One such man was the Austrian Vice Chancellor, whom she met on a trip to Budapest.
But there was a mysterious reason for Caldwell’s interest in the Vice Chancellor.
9. She May Have Been A Spy
There’s a rumor out there that Caldwell may have been doing some spying. Some say that Hugh Dickinson, one of Caldwell’s romances, had hired her to gather military intelligence. Hanging around men like the Vice Chancellor of Austria certainly put her in contact with some interesting information.
Meanwhile, back in Hove, Caldwell’s father decided that his daughter was becoming wild. It was time to rein her in.
10. She Got Engaged
Caldwell’s father’s plan to control her was simple. He arranged a marriage for her. The man he had in mind was John Sidney Tabor, and Caldwell decided to go along with the engagement—at least for a while. After a few months, Caldwell called the engagement off and was soon fleeing back to Budapest, where she could return to her carefree lifestyle.
She was also in search of a new man.
11. She Met A Musician
When she wasn’t partying in Budapest, Diana Caldwell was a frequent guest at Tingewick Hall in Buckinghamshire, England. Here, jazz music was all the rage, and Caldwell happened to meet pianist Vernon Motion. There was mutual attraction, but there was also a problem.
12. She Didn't Want To Wait
As it turned out, Caldwell was pregnant, and she was sure that Motion wasn’t the father. This could explain why Caldwell suggested marriage just days after they had met. She was looking for a father for her child. What needs explaining is why Motion agreed to this “quickie marriage”.
13. She Had To Get Married
Caldwell was probably looking for a man with money to help pay for her child. The irony was that Motion was also looking for money. Neither of them had oodles of cash, but the wedding somehow went ahead anyway. These two gold diggers were going to be stuck with each other.
14. They Called It Quits
Two weeks after getting married, Caldwell and Motion called it quits and cited the reason as adultery. Apparently, both of them had enough cases to convince the judge. Caldwell still had her unborn baby to worry about. Seeing that she no longer had a husband, she decided to terminate the pregnancy. But there was one big question.
Who was the father of his child that never was?
15. She Met A Baron
Back in 1935, Diana Caldwell met Sir Jock Delves Broughton. Broughton was older than Caldwell’s other conquests—he was 31 years older than her—and some called him “humorless”. To make him an even worse candidate for dating, Broughton was already married.
But there was one thing he had going for him: Broughton was a Baron.
16. He Wasn’t The Best
Sure, Broughton was a Baron, but that didn't make him husband material. One of Broughton’s many vices was gambling. In fact, Broughton had to sell off the family land just to pay off his mounting debt. He also took his wife’s pearls and paintings and then told his insurance company that they’d been robbed.
Despite Broughton’s marriage and his terrible reputation, Caldwell and he became an item.
17. They Were Both Free
Some say that Broughton divorced his wife to be with Caldwell. Others believe that Broughton’s wife had found a different—and likely better—man for a husband and had divorced Broughton. Regardless of the reason, Caldwell and Broughton were suddenly free to marry if they chose to.
Caldwell likely saw Broughton as a ticket to a life of leisure.
But she was in for a shock.
18. She Received A Proposal
As Caldwell got to know Broughton better, she realized his wealth was severely limited. In fact, his debts were once again mounting quickly. But Broughton had a proposal for Caldwell. They could move to Kenya, where he had purchased property and a coffee plantation. This way, they could escape Broughton’s creditors and live in peace.
Caldwell barely gave it a second thought. She was off to Africa.
19. She Took Care Of Her Future
While on their romantic passage to Kenya, Diana Caldwell worked her charms. She convinced Broughton to agree to a pre-nuptial contract. With this contract signed, Caldwell would receive £5,000 a year if the marriage didn't last. Caldwell had set herself up before even arriving in Kenya.
But before the boat hit land, Caldwell had some time on her hands.
20. She Played A Game
Some reports say that Caldwell didn't even make it to Kenya before cheating on her future husband. Apparently, she got the pre-nup and then started an affair with another passenger on the voyage. Caldwell was playing a dangerous game.
And her reputation was out there.
21. Her Reputation Preceded Her
Baroness Blixen (Bror Blixen’s second wife) had met Caldwell and Broughton in Johannesburg. She summed up Caldwell pretty quickly. She said that Caldwell certainly was “glamorous” but she also called her a “gold digger” and accused her of having a “heart of steel”. She made Caldwell sound like a femme fatale in a movie.
Well, this femme fatale was about to land in her own kind of paradise.
22. She Arrived To A Pleasant Surprise
It’s hard to know exactly what Diana Caldwell expected of her life in Kenya, but she was likely pleasantly surprised when she arrived at the "Happy Valley”. This was an area in Kenya where British aristocrats lived. Seeing that Caldwell was a party girl, she was likely over the moon when she realized that the residents of the Happy Valley were happy for a very good reason.
It was a special place to live.
23. She Fit In Perfectly
The residents of the Happy Valley had a reputation for leading decadent lifestyles that many called "hedonistic". The group was heavily into recreational drug use and promiscuity. It looked like Caldwell would fit in perfectly. There was one problem, though: she still had a husband who would likely get in the way of enjoying Happy Valley to its fullest.
She had to get Broughton off her back.
24. She Was Cruel
When Caldwell and Broughton arrived in Kenya, they married right away. Apparently, Caldwell had no intention of sleeping with her new husband. She cruelly told one friend that she wasn’t “sharing a room with that dirty old man”. The story goes that the two spent their marriage living in separate bedrooms.
If she wasn’t sharing her bed with her husband, who was she sharing a bed with?
25. She Didn't Waste Any Time
When they arrived at the Happy Valley, Diana Caldwell quickly started an affair with the Earl of Erroll. Erroll was pretty much at the center of all the hedonistic goings on at the Happy Valley. The strange thing was, Caldwell and the Earl didn't have to hide their affair. No one in Happy Valley cared about this at all.
But Caldwell did have one thing to worry about. Lord Erroll had an ex, and she could easily become unhinged.
26. She Was Wicked
Lord Erroll came with baggage to his relationship with Caldwell. That baggage came in the form of his ex, Alice de Janzé. Think of Janzé as the Drew Barrymore of this era. Her father had her partying while she was still an adolescent. Unlike Barrymore, Janzé never cleaned up her life. The Happy Valley residents called her “the wicked Madonna”.
De Janzé may have been angry about Caldwell and Erroll hooking up. But there was another resident who was probably furious.
27. He Tried To Be Cool
As far as appearances went, Broughton seemed not to care about Caldwell fooling around with another—and much younger—man. His problem wasn't about their bedroom antics. He had an issue with how much time they were spending together. It must have felt like he didn't have a wife at all.
Broughton was trying to be cool, but one night may have pushed him over the edge.
28. There Were Three At The Table
Three months after starting her affair with Lord Eroll, Diana Caldwell felt comfortable enough to have dinner with both her husband and her boyfriend. The plan was that after dinner, Lord Eroll would take Caldwell dancing, and the elderly Broughton would head off to bed. This part of the evening went according to plan.
It was after the dancing that things went horribly wrong.
29. He Was All Alone
After dancing the night away, Lord Eroll drove Caldwell home in his Buick. They said goodnight, and Caldwell entered her house to be with Broughton. Lord Erroll drove off into the night alone. This was the last time anyone would see Lord Erroll alive.
30. They Found Him
Sometime after he dropped off Caldwell, Erroll got into some trouble. All we know is that on January 24, 1941, they found his car in an intersection just outside Nairobi. It was a horrible sight. Lord Erroll’s lifeless body was in the car. Someone had mercilessly shot him in the head at point-blank range.
It looked like Caldwell was one of the last to see him alive.
31. They Had A Suspect
Caldwell was not the first suspect. Most of the Happy Valley set thought it was Erroll’s unstable ex-girlfriend Alice de Janzé. You see, de Janzé had already tried to shoot her lover, Raymond de Trafford, right in a Paris train station. To further show off her insanity, she still ended up marrying him anyway.
But de Janzé wasn’t the only suspect.
32. It May Have Been Her Husband
Another likely suspect was Caldwell’s husband, Broughton. Maybe the affair was not okay with him, and he took his revenge on Lord Erroll. It took a while, but Broughton eventually faced a jury and a judge on May 26, 1941. There were no eyewitnesses, and no hard evidence to convict him.
But they did have a potential weapon.
33. He Had An Excuse
Caldwell’s husband, Broughton, did have a pistol, but his defense lawyers pointed out a discrepancy between his weapon and the one used on January 24. When the prosecution claimed that Broughton had other weapons, he said someone had stolen them from the home he shared with Caldwell.
This loss of a weapon seemed very suspicious.
34. She Supported Him
At the trial, Diana Caldwell supported her husband’s version of any story he told the court regarding the murder of Erroll. Because of Caldwell's testimony and a lack of evidence, Broughton walked away a free man. It probably didn’t hurt that the jury foreman was Broughton’s own barber.
Sadly, what he walked toward was not going to be a very happy place.
35. She Turned Her Back On Him
Broughton walked from the courtroom a free man, but when he returned to Happy Valley, there was no warm welcome. Not only would his old friends not accept him, but Caldwell had already started with another lover. A humiliated Broughton returned to England and, almost as soon as he’d gotten off the boat, overdosed on morphine.
Caldwell’s happy days at Happy Valley were coming to a close.
36. They Looked Bad
Of course, the media took to this case like a moth to a flame. Because of the murder, the media soon put Caldwell and her fellow Happy Valley residents under the microscope. Back in England, there was rationing and raids by the Germans, and here were these aristocrats living the high life and flouting decency and morals.
Then the media turned directly on Caldwell.
37. She Was A Suspect
Authorities never solved the murder of Lord Erroll. They hadn't convicted Broughton, and the other major suspect, Alice de Janzé, apparently had an alibi. Of course, some fingers pointed at Caldwell herself. There was a theory that Lord Erroll had tried to end their affair, and she shot him. But Lord Erroll had so many past lovers and angry husbands, the case against Caldwell went cold.
The case may have been cold, but Caldwell didn’t cool off at all.
38. She Swung Back Into Action
It didn’t take long for Diana Caldwell to get over the loss of her husband. After Broughton had left Kenya, she asked his business partner, John Hopcraft, who the richest man in Kenya was. Hopcraft replied that it was Gilbert Colville. Caldwell had her information and got down to work.
39. She Saw And Conquered
It didn't take long for the manipulative Caldwell to become Colville’s wife. She was now married to the “richest landowner in Kenya”. He also, apparently, didn't have a single friend. Luckily, the only friend he needed was Caldwell, and the two actually had a happy marriage. But tragedy marked this union.
40. She Was A Mother
While married to Colville, Caldwell became pregnant. Sadly, 10 days after the birth of her little boy, the child passed. Another tragedy was a stillborn child. To make up for these losses, Caldwell and Colville adopted a baby girl. They named her Sarah and called her “Snoo”.
But this was not going to be a happy little household of three.
41. She Found Someone New
While happily married to Gilbert Colville and raising her adopted daughter, Diana Caldwell met another Happy Valley resident, Tom Delamere. Delamere, who was actually a friend of Colville’s, was with his second wife but somehow fell in love with Caldwell. Caldwell returned his affections, and Colville seemed happy to get out of their way and give his wife a divorce.
Of course, there was the issue of Delamere’s wife. They had to get rid of her.
42. She Ended A Marriage
Caldwell was dating a married man, and he wanted to end his current marriage and marry her. When Delamere’s wife found out that her husband was cheating with Caldwell, she wanted to call it quits. The reason for the divorce was simple: she blamed Caldwell. Both divorces went forward, and Caldwell married Delamere in 1955.
But this marriage was not going to be traditional.
43. She Had An Unusual Marriage
When she married Delamare, Caldwell may not have known that he didn’t come to the marriage alone. Lady Patricia Fairweather was the daughter of the Earl of Inchcape, and she joined Caldwell’s marriage as a third. This “throuple” managed to stay together for a respectable amount of time.
Next, Caldwell’s fortune would have a huge improvement.
44. She Was the Queen
Even though Diana Caldwell had left Gilbert Colville for another man, they stayed on good terms. When Colville passed in 1966, he left her oodles of land in Kenya. Caldwell was smart, and she used that land to boost her importance in Kenya. People took note and gave her a nickname. They called her the “White Queen of Africa”.
But there was only tragedy in this queen’s future.
45. She Buried Him
In 1979, Caldwell’s husband Delamere passed. Caldwell had built a little cemetery on the land she had inherited from Colville. She buried Delamere next to Colville, who was next to the little baby she’d lost. Delamere was Caldwell’s fourth and final husband. It seemed like a good time to go home.
46. She Returned
Eventually, the “White Queen of Africa” left Kenya and returned to England. Caldwell lived her remaining days in her house in Berkshire. At the age of 73, she passed away in London. Most believe it was due to heart failure.
The following year, there would be a serious accusation.
47. He Pointed His Finger At Her
The film White Mischief is a British thriller that tells the story of the residents of Happy Valley and, more specifically, the murder of Lord Erroll. Sir Jock Delve Broughton’s son thought the film painted his father too obviously as the culprit. He said that his dad was too inebriated that night and could not have killed Lord Erroll. His theory had a different guilty party. He said it was Caldwell.
It seemed like there would never be a definitive answer. And then new info emerged.
48. The Truth Came Out
It seemed that with Caldwell’s passing, we’d never discover who had ended Lord Erroll’s life. However, in 2007, a tape recording emerged. The son of one of Broughton’s alibis said that he knew that Broughton had hidden in the back of Erroll’s car and shot him. Broughton had never been convicted, and it’s pretty clear why: Caldwell had lied to keep him out of prison.
But there’s still one unsolved mystery. What was it about Caldwell that stirred up so much passion?
49. There Was Just Something About Her
Speaking about Caldwell, many have stated that she was not a “classic beauty”. So, what was it about Caldwell that attracted such crazed attention? Like a true femme fatale, her eyes were cold, and her mouth was hard. But once she let you in, these features changed and became irresistibly attractive.
But she also had what some call a joie de vivre.
50. She Liked To Love Dangerously
When Diana Caldwell lived in Kenya, she had a maid who often saw Caldwell in the bath. She said Caldwell’s skin looked like she'd never exposed it to the sun. This maid also couldn’t help but notice something else in the bath. Caldwell was wearing pearls worth £90,000 around her neck. When the maid offered to remove the pearls for their safety, Caldwell just looked at her and laughed. Safety was rarely on Caldwell’s mind.
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