Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Audrey Hepburn, daughter of a Dutch Baroness


Since finding out about the title I have been looking for role models; being that my mother passed away and she is not here to guide me through. Also I have been looking critically at how society views Baronesses. I have done this by learning about Baronesses and have decided to feature some of the ones I find the most interesting.

Whenever anyone thinks of unassuming style and sophistication, Audrey Hepburn comes to mind. I was watching one of my favorite movies Roman Holiday and started wondering if Audrey had some royal blood because she is so aristocratic looking in all of her roles and even if she didn't she is an excellent role model for an aristocrat.

I came across How to Be Lovely: The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life. This biography is a selection of Audrey's thoughts on issues ranging from poverty stricken countries to her views on how to be charming. One of the excerpts mentioned her mother who turns out to BE A BARONESS!?
What better way to learn about a Baroness then from her own daughter? Below is the excerpt.


Listen to Your Mother
Audrey's mother, born Baroness Ella van Heemstra, grew up "wanting more than anything else to be English, slim, and an actress," but her aristocratic heritage prevented such foolishness. Marriage and motherhood were on her agenda.


"Being the daughter of a baroness doesn't make you any different, except that my mother was born in 1900 and had had herself a very strict, Victorian upbringing, if you like. So, she was very demanding of us-of me and my brothers. 'Manners,' as she would say, 'don't forget, are kindnesses. You must always be kind.' Opening the door for old ladies is just a routine so that you know she's helped. And she was always very adamant about that."
"My mother taught me to stand straight, sit erect, use discipline with wine and sweets and to smoke only six cigarettes a day."
"I was given an outlook on life by my mother. . . . It was frowned upon not to think of others first. It was frowned upon not to be disciplined."
"It's that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so don't fuss, dear; get on with it."
"As a child, I was taught that it was bad manners to bring attention to yourself, and to never, ever make a spectacle of yourself. . . .
All of which I've earned a living doing."

-Audrey Hepburn



"I can really take no credit for any talent that Audrey may have. If it's real talent, it's God-given. I might as well be proud of a blue sky, or the paintings in the Flemish exhibition at the Royal Academy."
—her mother, Baroness Ella van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston

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Audrey Hepburn Roman Holiday

Audrey Hepburn Roman Holiday
courtesy www.brittanica.com