George Gershwin rubbed elbows with some interesting personalities throughout his rise to stardom. Few, however, were quite as compelling as the London socialite and heiress, Lady Edwina Mountbatten.

By Sarah Sisk

It was 1925, and a particular Gershwin tune was looking to be in pretty sad shape. “The Man I Love,” a George-and-Ira collaboration, began life as a misfit a few years prior. It eventually found a home in their 1924 musical Lady Be Good!, only to be promptly dropped due to lack of audience response. But “The Man I Love” was soon gifted a second chance when a friend of George’s, a certain Lady Mountbatten, heard the song and asked him for a copy to take back with her to England. George recalled the song’s ensuing renaissance fondly:

“Soon Montbatten’s [sic] favorite dance band, The Berkeley Square Orchestra, was playing ‘The Man I Love.’ Of course they had no orchestra arrangement, so they “faked” an arrangement—that is, they played the song by ear. It wasn’t long before all the dance bands in London had taken up ‘The Man I Love’…Paradoxical enough, I now had a London song hit on my hands without being able to sell a single copy!”

Delighted at its success east of the Atlantic, Gershwin recycled the “The Man I Love” in Strike up the Band (1927), and his personal affection for the number was eventually validated when singer Helen Morgan made it universally popular in the States. But who was Lady Mountbatten, the woman who single-handedly saved a now-standard Gershwin tune from almost certain oblivion?

Edwina and Louis Mountbatten in the early 1920s; George Gershwin, circa 1920

Born Edwina Ashley on November 28, 1901, Edwina was the heir to both social and pecuniary advantages. Her maternal grandfather, Sir Ernest Cassel, became one of the most affluent members of British society after making his fortune as a merchant banker, and was a close friend of King Edward VII. On her father’s side was the lineage of the Earls of Shaftesbury, a title that dates back to 1672. While her position in life was exceptional, her personality was all the more remarkable, described by her contemporaries as shrewd, vivacious, and fearless. She put her superior faculties to use during World War II when she became extensively involved in relief efforts, fundraising in the United States and assuming the position of Superintendent-in-Chief of the St. John Ambulance Brigade. Later she took her social work abroad: when she and Lord Mountbatten became Viceroy and Vicereine of India, she worked tirelessly to improve post-war conditions.

Mountbatten in the uniform of the St Johns Ambulance Brigade, during World War II.

But in the early 1920s, while across the ocean a young George Gershwin was rocketing to the top of America’s popular music scene, Mountbatten was busy conquering London’s high society. Her reign as London’s most illustrious socialite coincided with the years of the Jazz Age. Mountbatten’s début into society came shortly after she moved into Brook House, a mid-19th-century West End mansion that, under her management, soon became one of the city’s hottest centers for music, dancing, and mingling of society’s elite. From 1920 on, her social life revolved around hosting lavish parties at Brook House, attending West End plays and musicals, and frequenting London’s nightclubs. In each of these settings, she immersed herself in the jazz music that was all the rage at this time.

Mountbatten was on familiar terms with the popular musicians who played in the clubs and at her gatherings, and she did not discriminate between black and white artists, as her friendship and encouragement of Grenada-born singer Leslie Hutchinson evidences. Unfortunately, her intimate behavior attracted negative attention and led to a highly-publicized newspaper rumor that she and a black entertainer were caught in “compromising circumstances.” Though these and other claims were never verified, the incident shed light on Mountbatten’s bohemian lifestyle. But in general, Mountbatten’s outgoing personality made her hugely popular among artists and entertainers in both England and America. This led to endearing moments like Charlie Chaplin’s gift of a home movie to the newlywed Mountbattens, starring Chaplin and the aristocratic honeymooners themselves.

Nice and Friendly, a 1922 Charlie Chaplin film short featuring the newlywed Mountbattens

George Gershwin’s connections with Lady Mountbatten can be traced back to her honeymoon trip with Louis Mountbatten in 1922, which included her first visit to the United States. Mountbatten permeated New York’s lively nightclub and music scene as easily as she had in London. She danced to Paul Whiteman’s orchestra, who would later perform for her at Brook House in London (and, of course, premiere Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in New York in 1924). She also caught numerous Broadway plays, including George White’s Scandals—meaning she was undoubtedly familiar with the music of Gershwin, who had written the score for the 1922 season. In between catching plays, attending dinners with her husband, and shaking Babe Ruth’s hand at the World Series, she also found time to attend many exclusive Manhattan parties. It is likely that she met George Gershwin at one of these occasions. She was a guest of Cartier executive Jules Glaenzer, at whose parties Gershwin was known to mingle with and entertain New York’s high society.

Gershwin was destined to meet Lady Mountbatten time and time again. He began traveling to England in 1923 to work on West End productions, and he continued to hobnob in Mountbatten’s London circles throughout the 1920s. Mountbatten, of course, attended Gershwin’s musicals and concerts, including when he conducted the first British performance of Rhapsody in Blue at the Savoy Ballroom in London on June 15, 1925. But Mountbatten proved to be more than just an appreciative fan of the up-and-coming composer’s work. As the “The Man I Love” anecdote suggests, she was both on familiar terms with Gershwin and a boon to his popularity, just as she was to other musical prodigies she admired.

In the spring of 1928, when Ira and others of the Gershwin clan joined George for their first trip to Europe (during which George both gathered the necessary inspiration for An American in Paris and forged friendships in European music circles), Ira faithfully recorded his brother’s movements in London society, including a few intersections with Lady Mountbatten. Going to dinner at Lady Mountbatten’s afforded George a 20-minute talk with the Prince of Wales (who had presided as best man at the Mountbattens’ wedding), and Mountbatten also stopped by their rooms at the Mayfair Hotel the day before the Gershwins departed for Paris. She made no secret of her support of the American composer; when George was presented with a silver humidor at his reception for An American in Paris, Edwina Mountbatten’s name was one of those inscribed on it, along with Irving Berlin, Georges Carpentier, Gertrude Lawrence, Cole Porter, Francis Poulenc, and Paul Whiteman. Much like her inscription, Edwina Mountbatten’s friendship and involvement in Gershwin’s life made a lasting impression on the composer’s place in history.

Further Reading:

Hoey, Brian. Mountbatten: the Private Story. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1994.

Hough, Richard. Edwina: Countess Mountbatten of Burma. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1983.

Morgan, Janet P. Edwina Mountbatten: a Life of Her Own. London: HarperCollins, 1991.

Mountbatten of Burma, Louis Mountbatten. Mountbatten: Eighty Years In Pictures. New York: Viking Press, 1979.

Pollack, Howard. George Gershwin: His Life and Work. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006.

Ziegler, Philip. Mountbatten: the Official Biography. London: Collins, 1985.