Susan Barrantes

Susan Mary Barrantes (née Wright, previously Ferguson; 9 June 1937 – 19 September 1998) was the mother of Sarah, Duchess of York, and the maternal grandmother of princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

Susan Barrantes
Born
Susan Mary Wright

(1937-06-09)9 June 1937
Bramcote, Nottinghamshire, England
Died19 September 1998(1998-09-19) (aged 61)
Tres Lomas, Argentina
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1956; div. 1974)​

​
​
(m. 1975; died 1990)​
ChildrenJane Luedecke
Sarah, Duchess of York

Her elopement with an Argentinian polo player caused a stir in social circles. After his death, she became a film producer in Buenos Aires, but was killed in a road accident.

Early life and first marriage

Barrantes was born in Bramcote, Nottinghamshire, the daughter of FitzHerbert Wright and the Honourable Doreen Wingfield, sister of Mervyn Patrick Wingfield, 9th Viscount Powerscourt. She was the youngest of four children, with two sisters, Brigid and Davinia, and a brother, Bryan. Susan's maternal grandfather was Mervyn Wingfield, 8th Viscount Powerscourt.[1]

Susan Wright completed school and for a short time attended secretarial college. During the debutante season of 1954, she was presented at the court of Queen Elizabeth II.[2]

On 17 January 1956, Susan married Lieutenant Ronald Ferguson (1931–2003) at St Margaret's, Westminster. He rose to the rank of Major, played polo with the Duke of Edinburgh, and became the Prince of Wales's Polo Manager. Ronald and Susan had two daughters: Jane Louisa, born on 26 August 1957, and Sarah Margaret, later the Duchess of York, born on 15 October 1959.[3][4]

Divorce and second marriage

In 1972, Susan caused a stir in society circles by leaving her family, to move to Argentina with professional polo-player Héctor Barrantes.[5] Her daughters were then raised by their father Ronald with the help of their extended family. Susan and Ronald divorced in 1974, and in 1975 she married Barrantes.[6]

Susan and her new husband moved to the ranch-manor "El Pucara" in Tres Lomas, Argentina. In her writings and filmographic work, she recorded that aside from the birth of her two daughters, her life in Argentina was the happiest time of her life personally and professionally, since she had the chance to explore and develop a great documentary film career. Her two passions, polo and film, were combined in a new profession. She also assisted her husband's business of breeding polo ponies and cattle until his death from cancer in 1990.

Widowhood brought financial difficulties for Susan Barrantes, and she once again decided to start afresh. Selling more than half the farm to the polo-playing Australian media magnate Kerry Packer, she relocated to a large flat in the Recoleta-Palermo borough of Buenos Aires. In that city, she set up a television production company, making films about horses.[7]

Susan remained firm friends with the Prince of Wales, who contributed a foreword to her book titled Polo.

Death

On 19 September 1998, while leaving for the ranch where she kept ponies, the Rover 400 she was driving collided head on[8] with a Renault catering truck on a two-lane highway in flat countryside, reportedly driving at 124 mph. The driver of the truck, Jose Maria Rodriguez, a close friend, suffered a broken ankle, but Barrantes was not wearing a safety belt and was decapitated and killed, aged 61.[8] Barrantes' nephew, then 25-year-old Raphael, was in the car and was later hospitalized with minor injuries until the next day. Barrantes was previously involved in a road traffic accident the year before when her car flipped an estimated seven times.[9]

Susan Barrantes is buried beside her second husband in a vault beneath her home, next to a polo field on the "El Pucara" estate in Tres Lomas, Argentina.[9] Her death came just one year after that of her daughter's former sister-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales, whose funeral Susan and Sarah had both attended in Westminster Abbey.[10]

References
  1. Regan, Mary (14 October 2006). "'Duchess of Cork' embraces Irish roots". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  2. Smith, S. (2 February 2012). Elizabeth the Queen: The real story behind The Crown. Penguin - 2012. ISBN 9780141973333. Retrieved 4 May 2019. Susan Wright and been presented at court during the 1954 debutante season...
  3. "Duchess's mother dies in car crash". The Irish Times. 21 September 1998. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  4. "Duchess of York's Mother Dies in a Car Crash". The New York Times. 21 September 1998. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  5. Harris, Paul (26 October 2002). "Fergie: How food became my only friend". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  6. "Duchess of York's Mother Buried". Associated Press. 22 September 1998. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  7. "UK Horsewoman at home on the ranch". BBC News. 21 September 1998. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  8. "Fergie's mother killed in car smash". Irish Independent. 21 September 1998. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  9. "Fergie mourns mum". BBC News. 22 September 1998. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  10. "Press pursue Duchess before mother's funeral". BBC News. 22 September 1998. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
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