Lady Dorothy Lygon was born on 22 February 1912, the daughter of William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp and Lady Lettice Grosvenor.
Her friendship with Evelyn Waugh began in the early 1930s; to Dorothy Lygon, Waugh explained that the Lygons were only part of inspiration for the novel ''Brideshead Revisited''; Dorothy Lygon most likely inspired the character of Lady Cordelia Flyte. According to Laura Herbert, Waugh's wife, Dorothy Lygon was "the nicest of all" her husband's friends. Waugh dedicated ''Black Mischief'' to Mary and Dorothy Lygon.[1] Her nicknames to friends were "Coote", "Pollen" or "Poll".
During World War II, Lygon served as a Flight Officer in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force posted to Italy. After the war she moved to a farm in Gloucestershire. In the 1950s, she worked as social secretary at the British Embassy in Athens. In 1956 she moved to Istanbul, working as a governess. She then moved to the Greek island of Hydra. In the 1960s she moved back to England and worked as an archivist at Christie's.
In 1985 she married Robert Heber-Percy, the former companion/lover of the composer Lord Berners until his death in 1950, when he inherited Faringdon House in Oxfordshire.[2][3] They "parted amicably" a year later.[4]
- ^ cite book|last1=Carpenter|first1=Humphrey|title=The Brideshead Generation: Evelyn Waugh and His Friends|publisher=Faber & Faber. Kindle Edition|page=494|accessdate=24 January 2018
- ^ cite web|url=http://www.faringdon.org/heber-percy-more-info.html|title=Robert Heber-Percy|author=|date=|website=Faringdon Community Website. South West Oxfordshire|accessdate=24 September 2017
- ^ cite web|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/04/23/lord-berners-serious-silly-charming-heartless/|title=Serious, Silly, Charming, & Heartless|first=Alan|last=Hollinghurst|date=23 April 2015|publisher=|accessdate=24 September 2017|via=www.nybooks.com
- ^ cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1362599/Lady-Dorothy-Heber-Percy.html|title=Lady Dorothy Heber Percy|author=|date=17 November 2001|publisher=|accessdate=24 September 2017|via=www.telegraph.co.uk
