Beatrice Beckett

Beatrice Helen Beckett was born on 27 July 1905 and died on 29 June 1957. She was the daughter of Sir William Gervase Beckett, Baronet (1866–1937), a banker, Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party, and chairman of the Yorkshire Post. Her mother was Mabel Theresa Duncombe (1877–1913). Beatrice was related to Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick.

In 1923, Beckett married Anthony Eden, a British Conservative politician, during a temporary break in his first election campaign. Their wedding took place during this period, and their honeymoon lasted only two days, after which Eden left to campaign in Warwick. Following the marriage, Anthony Eden became a Member of Parliament representing Warwick and Leamington. The couple had three sons: Simon Gascoigne Eden (1924–1945), a Royal Air Force navigator who was reported missing in action in Burma and died in 1945; Robert Eden (born and died in 1928 within fifteen minutes of birth); and Nicholas Eden (1930–1985), who later became the 2nd Earl of Avon and served as aide-de-camp to the Governor General of Canada after World War II.

Beatrice Beckett's family connections helped support her husband's political career. However, by the early 1930s, their marriage experienced difficulties, partly due to Beckett's disinterest in politics and Eden's long working hours and frequent absences. Eden eventually discerned that Beatrice was having extramarital affairs. The couple agreed to live largely separate lives, maintaining their marriage publicly despite private strains. Their separation became more pronounced in 1941 when their family moved to Binderton House near Chichester, Sussex, while Eden took up residence in a flat at the Foreign Office to fulfill wartime responsibilities.

The marriage ended in 1950 when it was legally dissolved on the grounds of Beckett’s desertion after 27 years. The separation was described as amicable, and the former spouses remained friends. In 1952, Anthony Eden married Clarissa Spencer-Churchill; he became the first former divorcee to serve as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Public opinion at the time showed increasing acceptance of divorce, as noted by The Church Times, reflecting changing societal norms.

After her separation from Eden, Beatrice Beckett spent the remainder of World War II in Paris. In 1946, she relocated to the United States. Her romantic life included a relationship with an "eminent American" who promised marriage but ultimately reneged on his commitment. Beatrice Beckett died in 1957 and was interred in the Beckett family plot at St Gregory's Minster, Kirkdale, North Yorkshire.