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Nina Dyer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nina Sheila Dyer
Born15 February 1930
British Ceylon
Died3 July 1965 (aged 35)
Paris, France
Cause of deathsuicide
Other namesBaroness Nina Thyssen-Bornemisza
Princess Nina Aga Khan
Shirin
Occupation(s)model and socialite
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1954; div. 1956)​
​
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(m. 1957; div. 1962)​

Nina Sheila Dyer (15 February 1930 – 3 July 1965) was an Anglo-Indian model and socialite. Through her marriages, she became a wealthy Baroness, then a Princess.

Early life

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Dyer was born on 15 February 1930 in British Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka).[1] Her father was British tea plantation owner,[2] Stanley Dyer, and her mother was Indian,[3] making Dyer Anglo-Indian. She grew up on the tea plantation in Ceylon.[1]

Career

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After moving to England when she was 20, Dyer took acting classes in Liverpool, then began a career in London as a swimwear model.[1]

English fashion houses considered that her high cheekbones and full lips looked "overly exotic" for British tastes, so Dyer moved to Paris.[1] She found more success in France and became a favourite fashion model of French couturier Pierre Balmain.[4][5] Dyer also became a socialite, mingled in international high society circles and attended glamorous parties on the French Riviera.[4]

Marriages

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First marriage

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On 23 June 1954, in Colombo, Ceylon, Dyer married wealthy industrialist and art collector Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza,[6] known as "Heini", as his second wife.[7] After the marriage, she was styled as Baroness. They had allegedly begun an affair whilst he was still married to his first wife, Princess Teresa of Lippe-Weissenfeld. Before their marriage, Thyssen-Bornemisza gave Dyer cars, jewels, one of four wild chinchilla fur coats in the world and two pet black panthers. One Valentine’s Day, he gave her Pellew Island in Jamaica as a gift.[4] The couple had no children.

After Thyssen-Bornemisza discovered the Dyer was having an affair with French actor Christian Marquand,[4] he divorced her on 4 July 1956 in Lugano, Switzerland.[6] Tbey were married for ten months and she received $2.8m, $400,000 of jewels, a painting by El Greco and Thyssen-Bornemisza's château in France from the divorce settlement.[4] Shortly after the divorce, in 1956 Thyssen-Bornemisza remarried to another British fashion model, Fiona Campbell-Walter.[8]

Second marriage

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On 27 August 1957, in the Khan family mansion in Collonges-Bellerive, near Geneva, Switzerland,[9] Dyer married Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan.[10] He was the son of Sir Sultan Aga Khan III,[2][11] 48th Imam of the Nizari Isma'ili, and Princess Andrée Joséphine Carron. Dyer converted to Shia Islam,[12] was styled as Princess and took the name Shirin, meaning sweetness.[13]

Prince Aga Khan gave up his place in the succession in order to marry Dyer,[14] as she had previously been married. He gifted her with luxury cars, jewels[3] and Jamaican Tiamo Island,[4] which neighboured Pellew Island that she had received from her first husband. Dyer was accused of being a gold digger and responded that:[3]

"People have called me scheming, but nothing is further from the truth. Luck fell on me without doing anything, it has been like this since my childhood. It just happened that the great things in life became my daily life."

The couple had no children and divorced in 1962 after five years of marriage. She received $1.4m from the divorce settlement.[4]

Sexuality

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American writer and journalist Dominic Dunne claimed that Dyer was "indifferent to gender when it came to love partners."[7] She allegedly had numerous affairs,[7] and Nicolás Franco flirted with her after her divorces.[15]

Death

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Dyer suffered from depression. She died by suicide at her chateau in France after taking an overdose of sleeping pills on 3 July 1965.[16][17][18] Her will stipulated that proceeds from the sale of her jewels and cars after her death would be left to animal welfare charities.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "La modelo que pudo ser cuñada de Franco". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 11 February 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  2. ^ a b Frischauer, Willi (1970). The Aga Khans. Bodley Head. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-370-01304-6.
  3. ^ a b c Bickerstaff, Isaac (23 October 2024). "Rare emerald brooch gifted by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan to Nina Dyer set to be auctioned". Tatler. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Bio: Nina Dyer". Supercar Nostalgia. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  5. ^ "La vida de película de Nina Dyer, la escandalosa modelo de alta costura que vivía con dos panteras, enamoró al hermano de Franco y se casó primero con el barón Thyssen y luego con el príncipe Aga Khan". Mujer Hoy (in Spanish). 10 April 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  6. ^ a b Orizio, Riccardo (2001). Lost White Tribes: The End of Privilege and the Last Colonials in Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Brazil, Haiti, Namibia, and Guadeloupe. Simon and Schuster. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-7432-1197-0.
  7. ^ a b c France, David (1999). Bag of Toys. Kensington Publishing Corporation. pp. 144–145. ISBN 978-0-7860-1017-2.
  8. ^ "Eternal inspiration: Baroness Fiona von Thyssen" The 6 Million Dollar Story. 25 October 2016. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  9. ^ Bride of a Khan. LIFE Magazine. 9 September 1957. p. 33.
  10. ^ "Nina Dyer". Bibliothèque de Genève Iconographie (in French). Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  11. ^ British Pathé (11 November 2020). SWITZERLAND: ROYALS: Sadruddin Khan marries British model Nina Dyer in Geneva (1957). Retrieved 26 March 2025 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ Cologni, Franco; Mocchetti, Ettore (1993). Made by Cartier: 150 Years of Tradition and Innovation. Abbeville Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-1-55859-599-6.
  13. ^ "Aly Khan's Brother Weds Model". The New York Times. 28 August 1957. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  14. ^ Pury, Simon de (1 January 2017). The Auctioneer: Adventures in the Art Trade. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-925575-26-2.
  15. ^ "La modelo que pudo ser cuñada de Franco". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 11 February 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  16. ^ "Former Cover Girl Nina Dyer Kills Self". St. Petersburg Times. 8 July 1965. Retrieved 16 May 2025 – via Google Newspapers.
  17. ^ Winston, Ronald; Stadiem, William (19 September 2023). King of Diamonds: Harry Winston, the Definitive Biography of an American Icon. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-5107-7561-9.
  18. ^ Watson, Peter (1992). From Manet to Manhattan: The Rise of the Modern Art Market. Random House. p. 334. ISBN 978-0-679-40472-9.
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