Lucy Birley
{{Short description|British model (1959–2018)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lucy Birley
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Lucy Helmore
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1959|9|08|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Oswestry, Shropshire, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2018|07|23|1959|09|18}}
| death_place = County Clare, Ireland
| nationality = British
| other_names = Lucy Ferry
| occupation = Socialite, Model, photographer
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| education =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Bryan Ferry|26 June 1982|31 March 2003|end=divorce}}
- {{marriage|Robin Birley|1 October 2006|23 July 2018|end=d}}
}}
| children = 4
| father = Patrick Helmore
| mother =
| relatives = Otis Ferry (son)
}}
Lucy Margaret Mary Birley (née Helmore; 18 September 1959 – 23 July 2018){{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lucy-birley-death-brian-ferry-wife-model-photography-hunting-campaign-a8469861.html|title=Lucy Birley: Model, photographer and pro-hunting campaigner|first=Christine|last=Manby|date=31 July 2018|website=The Independent|access-date=4 March 2019|archive-date=10 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710215221/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lucy-birley-death-brian-ferry-wife-model-photography-hunting-campaign-a8469861.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/lucy-birley-dead-at-58-london-socialite-and-former-wife-of-bryan-ferry-dies-on-holiday-in-ireland-a3895146.html|title=Bryan Ferry's ex-wife Lucy Birley dies on holiday aged 58|first=Tom|last=Powell|date=24 July 2018|website=www.standard.co.uk|access-date=24 July 2018|archive-date=24 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724183631/https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/lucy-birley-dead-at-58-london-socialite-and-former-wife-of-bryan-ferry-dies-on-holiday-in-ireland-a3895146.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=FreeBMD Entry Info|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?scan=1&r=219544264:7589&d=bmd_1605601217|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111060753/https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?scan=1&r=219544264:7589&d=bmd_1605601217|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 November 2023|access-date=30 November 2020|website=www.freebmd.org.uk}} was a British model, photographer, and socialite.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tatler.com/gallery/lucy-birley-dies-at-58|title=Lucy Birley, model, socialite and former wife of Bryan Ferry, dies at 58|website=Tatler|date=24 July 2018 |access-date=1 July 2020|archive-date=1 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701164651/https://www.tatler.com/gallery/lucy-birley-dies-at-58|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/may/15/lucy-birley-photography-elizabeth-day|title=Lucy Birley: 'I didn't want to be put in the spotlight' | Interview|first=Elizabeth|last=Day|date=14 May 2011|website=The Guardian|access-date=3 April 2021|archive-date=10 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210221641/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/may/15/lucy-birley-photography-elizabeth-day|url-status=live}}
Early life
Birley was born in Shropshire and raised in KensingtonEngland & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/style/beauty/a-sad-farewell-to-the-loveliest-girl-37164082.html|title=A sad farewell to the loveliest girl|first=Barry|last=Egan|website=independent|access-date=1 July 2020|archive-date=1 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701163405/https://www.independent.ie/style/beauty/a-sad-farewell-to-the-loveliest-girl-37164082.html|url-status=live}} She was the daughter of Mary (née Hull) and Patrick Helmore, an underwriter at the Lloyd's of London insurance corporation.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/inquest-hears-of-lodge-blaze-death-1.132481|title=Inquest hears of lodge blaze death|newspaper=The Irish Times}} Her brother is Edward Helmore, a journalist for The Guardian and The Observer.{{Cite web |title=Edward Helmore {{!}} The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/edwardhelmore |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}
She attended Woldingham School and began fox-hunting at the age of twelve.
She left home at seventeen and moved in with several friends, including actor Rupert Everett.
Career
Birley (then Helmore) began her career as a fashion model in her late teens. She was photographed by Steven Meisel and Robert Mapplethorpe and influenced designers Christian Lacroix, Manolo Blahnik and Philip Treacy.{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3683752.stm|title=Faces of the week|date=24 September 2004|via=news.bbc.co.uk|access-date=3 April 2021|archive-date=10 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210211759/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3683752.stm|url-status=live}}
In May 1982, she was photographed wearing a medieval helmet and holding a falcon at Crumlin Lodge, outside of Inverin, Connemara for the cover of Roxy Music's album Avalon.
As a photographer, she worked solely with manual cameras and favoured a twin-lens Rolleiflex camera. Birley developed her own film and exhibited her work in London. Some of her subjects were Damien Hirst and Isabella Blow.
Personal life
She began dating Bryan Ferry after his girlfriend Jerry Hall left him for Mick Jagger. Ferry was fourteen years her senior.
On 26 June 1982, at the age of twenty two she married Bryan Ferry at the Church of St Anthony and St George at Duncton, West Sussex. They had four sons: Otis, Isaac, Tara, and Merlin. They divorced on 31 March 2003.
She battled alcoholism, substance dependency and depression. In the 1990s, Birley attended Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous to help recover from addiction.
In October 2006, she married Robin Birley, son of Mark Birley and Lady Annabel Goldsmith.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/tragedy-lucy-birley-sadness-gilded-society-set/|title=The tragedy of Lucy Birley – and the sadness of the gilded society set|first=Hannah|last=Betts|newspaper=The Telegraph |date=26 July 2018|via=www.telegraph.co.uk|access-date=26 July 2018|archive-date=26 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726233830/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/tragedy-lucy-birley-sadness-gilded-society-set/|url-status=live}}
Death
She died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 23 July 2018, aged 58, while on holiday in County Clare, Ireland following what was described by her brother Ed Helmore as "a long battle with depression". Her husband announced her death in a joint statement with her children: "On Monday Lucy Birley (nee Helmore) passed away whilst on holiday in Ireland, surrounded by her beloved dogs, Daisy, Peg and Daphne. Her husband Robin, and her sons – Otis, Isaac, Tara and Merlin – are understandably devastated and request that their privacy be respected during this difficult time".
Birley's ashes were scattered at her mother's grave in County Clare.
References
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{{Birley family}}
{{Bryan Ferry}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Birley, Lucy}}
Category:Suicides by firearm in Ireland
Category:Photographers from Shropshire