Daisy, Princess of Pless (Mary Theresa Olivia; néeCornwallis-West; 28 June 1873 – 29 June 1943) was a noted society beauty in the Edwardian period.
Daisy and her husband Prince Hans Heinrich XV were the owners of large estates and coal mines in Silesia (now in Poland) which brought an enormous fortune to the Hochbergs. During her marriage, she was a member of one of the wealthiest European noble families. She sought to prevent World War I by bringing together world leaders for peaceful discussions.
Daughter (25 February 1893 – 11 March 1893).[citation needed]
Hans Heinrich XVII William Albert Edward (2 February 1900 – 26 January 1984), 4th Prince of Pless, Count von Hochberg and Baron of Fürstenstein. Married twice but had no issue.
Bolko Conrad Frederick (23 September 1910 – 22 June 1936), who later caused a scandal by marrying his stepmother Clotilde de Silva y Gonzáles de Candamo (19 July 1898 – 12 December 1978), daughter of the 10th Marquis de Arcicóllar (and Hans Heinrich XV's second wife). Father of Bolko, 6th Prince.
Peace campaigning and war work
During her marriage Daisy, known in German as the Fürstin von Pless, became a social reformer and militated for peace with her friends German Emperor William II and King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.[2]
During World War I she was suspected by Germans of being a British spy and was criticised by British people for treating German soldiers as a Red Cross nurse.[2]
The Princess introduced pasteurised milk stations for children and founded a school for disabled children.[2] She organised a cooperative for lace workers.[2]
'The Private Diaries of Princess Daisy of Pless – 1873–1914, edited by Major Desmond Chapman-Huston, were first published in London by John Murray in 1931. This was the second selection from her diaries and, according to his introduction were from a series of diaries totalling 600,000 words. The diaries describe the Princess's life as a member of the European aristocracy, and include sometimes frank descriptions of significant pre-war political and social figures.[citation needed]
World War II
Daisy moved to Wałbrzych, then known as Waldenburg, in 1941. To ease the Hochberg's debts, the Fürstenstein castle was sold by the family and bought by the Nazis in 1943.[2]
The Princess was initially buried near the Hochberg family mausoleum. Her grave was plundered and her remains desecrated by Red Army soldiers in 1945, and she was reburied in an undisclosed location.[6][7]
The Princess was commemorated by a statue near the castle Schloss Pless where she had lived for a time.[2]
