Mary Elsie Moore


Mary Elsie Moore, Princess di Civitella-Cesi, was an American railroad equipment heiress who married and divorced Italian Prince Don Marino Torlonia, 4th Prince of Civitella-Cesi.

Early life

Mary Elsie Moore was born October 22, 1889, in Brooklyn, New York, the youngest child of Charles Arthur Moore and Mary Moore. Her father was a shipping broker and hardware manufacturer from Connecticut, who went on to become the president of Manning, Maxwell and Moore, a large industrial concern.
Her siblings were Charles Arthur Moore Jr. who married Annete Sperry and Elizabeth Hyde ; Eugene Maxwell Moore, who married Titanic survivor Margaret Graham; and Jessie Ann Moore, who married the son of U.S Navy Admiral Colby Mitchell Chester.
Moore was educated at Mrs. Dow's School in Briarcliff Manor, New York.

Personal life

On August 15, 1907, Moore married the then Duke of Poli and Guadagnolo Don Marino Torlonia at Old Orchard, her parents' estate in Belle Haven, Greenwich, Connecticut. She was nicknamed, "the Dollar Duchess" by the media. Upon his brother Augusto Torlonia's death in 1926, her husband became the 4th Prince of Civitella-Cesi. Together, the Prince and Princess of Civitella-Cesi had four children:
In 1922, the Duke of Torlonia fought a duel with Count Filippo Lovatelli, the famous Italian sculptor, over a statue of the Duchess, causing an international sensation.
The Prince of Torlonia was having an affair. In 1925, the couple separated and in 1926, the Duchess filed for divorce in the United States. Her American citizenship was brought into question, but the Connecticut courts decided that her residence in the state was legal and granted her divorce in February 1928.
Once settled in the United States she became a socialite, active in society life in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. Moore died at her home, 375 Park Avenue in New York City, on December 21, 1941.