# Who was Princess Polny? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 10, 2025, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-princess-polny/1016877 "2025-04-10T22:29:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-princess-polny/1016877/1 "2025-04-10T22:29:48Z")
In a book I’m reading, I came across [this photo](https://gettyimagesgallery.com/collection/countryside/) of British royal photographer Cecil Beaton and his friends Tilly Losch, Adele Astaire, Tallulah Bankhead, and Princess Polny. > **[Artistic Gathering | Getty Images Gallery](https://gettyimagesgallery.com/images/artistic-gathering/)** > > 17th June 1934: Left to right: American actress and dancer Adele Astaire, wife of Lord Charles Cavendish; Princess Polny; Tallulah Bankhead; Tilly Losch; and Cecil Beaton with a flock of doves at his home 'Ashcombe' in Wiltshire. (Photo by... Tallulah, many people know – a famous actress. Tilly Losch and Adele Astaire (Fred’s sister) were also dancers and actresses; Tilly also happened later to become the Countess of Carnarvon, and Adele was the daughter-in-law of the Duke of Devonshire. But who was this Princess Polny? There are only four Google hits on her name, and all of them lead to the photo. At some point someone knew her and captioned it, but other than that reference, she seems to be lost to history. Or at least, the Internet does not record her history. Perhaps she’s in Burke’s Peerage or something, does anyone know? My guess is “Princess” is a stage name or a nickname or is actually her given name. I’d think if she was the princess of something, the internet would contain more than a single reference to her. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-princess-polny/1016877/2 "2025-04-10T22:52:50Z")
Could Princess be her first name? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-princess-polny/1016877/3 "2025-04-10T23:10:23Z")
Pardon my use of AI, but this is what I pulled from it: \*She is Polleen Wheatland Peabody, an American socialite known by the nickname “Polly.” \* _“Princess Polny” does not correspond to any officially recognized royal title. The moniker may have been a playful or affectionate nickname, possibly a misinterpretation or variation of “Polly,” used within social circles of the time."_ Perhaps this can help lead to more authoritative answers? ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-princess-polny/1016877/4 "2025-04-10T23:12:34Z")
IMPRESSIVE! That’s gotta be her; same face as [this photo](https://americanaristocracy.com/people/polleen-wheatland-peabody). ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-princess-polny/1016877/5 "2025-04-10T23:14:33Z")
And her mom, Caresse Crosby, invented and held the patent for the first successful modern bra. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-princess-polny/1016877/6 "2025-04-10T23:18:01Z")
Now **that’s** a real claim to fame. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-princess-polny/1016877/7 "2025-04-10T23:29:57Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > possibly a misinterpretation or variation of “Polly,” used within social circles of the time." Her mom’s nickname was “Polly”, too. Putting a “n” in there to denote “Polleen” may have been to differentiate the two. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-princess-polny/1016877/8 "2025-04-11T00:08:47Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Putting a “n” in there to denote “Polleen” may have been to differentiate the two. Or it was just a transcription error. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-princess-polny/1016877/9 "2025-04-11T12:06:21Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Caresse Crosby, invented and held the patent for the first successful modern bra. Nominative determinism again? ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-princess-polny/1016877/10 "2025-04-11T14:18:13Z")
She was aso Mrs. Drysdale? She was on _The Bevery Hillbillies_? ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-princess-polny/1016877/11 "2025-04-11T16:16:31Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > And her mom, Caresse Crosby, invented and held the patent for the first successful modern bra. That’s no comfort to the victims of the unsuccessful bra. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-princess-polny/1016877/12 "2025-04-13T09:51:34Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > That’s no comfort to the victims of the unsuccessful bra. I tittered…