Pamela Harriman

Pamela Beryl Harriman (née Digby; 20 March 1920 – 5 February 1997), also known as Pamela Churchill Harriman, was an English political activist for the Democratic Party in the United States, diplomat, and socialite. She married three times: her first husband was Randolph Churchill, the son of prime minister Winston Churchill; her third husband was W. Averell Harriman, an American diplomat who also served as Governor of New York. Her only child, Winston Churchill, was named after his famous grandfather. She served as US ambassador to France from 1993 until her death in 1997.

Early life

Pamela Digby was born in Farnborough, Hampshire, England, the daughter of Edward Digby, 11th Baron Digby, and his wife, Constance Pamela Alice, the daughter of Henry Campbell Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare. She was educated by governesses in the ancestral home at Minterne Magna in Dorset, along with her three younger siblings, and later attended Downham School. Her great-great aunt was the nineteenth-century adventurer and courtesan Jane Digby (1807–1881), notorious for her exotic travels and scandalous personal life. Pamela was to follow in her relative's footsteps, and has been called "the 20th-century's most influential courtesan".

Raised on acres of farmland and woodland in Dorset, she developed strong equestrian skills from an early age. She competed at prominent events such as the International Olympia and the Royal Bath and West Show, as well as at local shows in Dorchester and Melplash. She notably show-jumped a small pony named Stardust, which completed a clear round at Olympia despite all fences being above its withers. By 1937, she had returned to Britain. Randolph proposed to her on the very evening they met, and they were married on 4 October 1939.

In February 1941, Randolph was sent to Cairo with the British Commandos, acquiring gambling debts during the boat journey. Pamela was left to cope alone with a young baby and Randolph's creditors. His letter to Pamela asking her to make good on new gambling debt of $12,000 (equivalent to over $190,000 in 2020) forced her to take a £12-a-week job at the Ministry of Supply and sell her wedding presents and much of her jewellery, while keeping it a secret from her in-laws. After her divorce from Churchill she was involved with Prince Aly Khan, Alfonso de Portago, Gianni Agnelli, and Baron Elie de Rothschild.

According to American author Michael Gross, Churchill became well known for her attention to detail with men. William S. Paley, briefly a consort during WWII, said: "She is the greatest courtesan of the century", meaning it as a compliment.

In 1948, Harriman moved to Paris and began a five-year-long romance with Gianni Agnelli, a noted playboy and heir to the Fiat empire, who was a year younger than she was. She described this as the happiest period of her life. In August 1952, she walked in on him embracing a young woman, Anne-Marie d'Estainville, at a party. Later that night Agnelli sustained a severe leg injury in a car accident while taking d'Estainville home. By Pamela's account, she nursed him back to health while he was in hospital, then while he was convalescing in Turin they decided together to end their relationship. He continued to call her daily for the rest of her life.

Her next significant relationship was with Baron de Rothschild, who was married. He supported her financially, and she was schooled in art history and wine-making during this clandestine and short relationship. During this time she also had affairs with the writer Maurice Druon and with the shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos.

Pamela Harriman served on The Rockefeller University Council from 1977 to 1979, and on the Board of Trustees from 1979 to 1993.

Political career

As Pamela Churchill Harriman she became a United States citizen in 1971 and became involved with the Democratic Party, creating a fund-raising system—a political action committee—named "Democrats for the 80s", later "Democrats for the 90s", and nicknamed "PamPAC". In 1980, the Woman's National Democratic Club named her "Woman of the Year." U.S. President Bill Clinton appointed her United States Ambassador to France in 1993. The Dayton Agreement was signed in Paris in 1995 while she served as ambassador. at the American Hospital, Neuilly-sur-Seine, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage while swimming at the Paris Ritz one day earlier.

The morning after her death, President Jacques Chirac of France placed the Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur on her flag-draped coffin. She was the first female foreign diplomat to receive this honour.

In recognition of her service and importance, United States President Bill Clinton sent Air Force One to repatriate her body to the U.S., and spoke glowingly of her public service himself at her funeral on Feb. 13, 1997, at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

Harriman was buried February 14, 1997, at Arden, the former Harriman estate in New York.

In popular culture

Harriman's life story has been the subject of several films and novels, including the following:

In the 2000 biography of Madeleine Albright, Pamela Harriman is cited in contrast to Albright, as a socialite who slept her way to the top.
In the 2015 two-character play, Swimming at The Ritz by Charles Leipart, Pamela Harriman, in need of $40 million to settle a family lawsuit, regales the audience with tales from her past. She and a hotel valet wait in a Paris Ritz suite for appraisers from Christie's who are preparing to auction her possessions.
A 2020 book about Winston Churchill during The Blitz, The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson, details Pamela's married life with Randolph Churchill, with whom she had Winston Churchill's near-namesake grandson, Winston Spencer-Churchill. The book details the devastating toll Randolph's compulsive gambling took on their marriage and concludes with her love affair with Averell Harriman along with their eventual marriage decades later.

Coat of arms

References

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External links

The Pamela Harriman Foreign Service Fellowship
Channel 4 documentary on Pamela Harriman