The Princess of Hesse and the Rhine

Margaret was born in Dublin, the only daughter in a family of four brothers, one of whom was later to live at Malleny House, Balerno, famous for its gardens. Peggy, as she became widely known, first met her future husband, Prince Louis (Ludvig) of Hesse, on a visit to Halls Hirth in Garmisch, and he was so taken with her that he secured a post as third secretary in the German Embassy in London so as to see her again.

The romance blossomed and although her father was not enthusiastic about the match, they became engaged in 1937. The wedding, however, was overshadowed by tragedy. First the prince's father, the Grand Duke Ernst Ludvig of Hesse, died, and the wedding was postponed until the following month. However, four days before the designated date, the aeroplane carrying the prince's brother, sister-in-law, their two young sons, the best man, and the children's nurse crashed in dense fog, killing the passengers and crew. The ceremony then took place privately the following day, the bride wearing a black coat and skirt.

The consequence of this disaster was that Prince Louis now became head of the House of Hesse and the Rhine, plunging both him and his wife into a life very different from the one they had envisaged. Instead of an undemanding life in a house on the Hesse estates, where the prince intended to write poetry, they acquired four castles, a palace, and the family's crown jewels.

But Peggy Hesse was a resourceful lady. When war broke out they were living at Schloss Wolfsgarten, near Darmstadt, and although Prince Louis was a reserve officer in the Wehrmacht, they attempted to keep a low profile as the relationship between Adolf Hitler and the German aristocracy deteriorated.

In 1943, with other German princes, the prince was obliged to leave the German army. Peggy, in the meantime, kept in touch with her family in Britain through the Red Cross, and the moment the war ended, Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, despatched an aeroplane to bring her home to her dying father's bedside. In the aftermath of the war it was Peggy Hesse who largely brought about a reconciliation between the British royal family and their German relatives. In 1947, she and her husband attended the wedding of Princess Elizabeth to the Duke of Edinburgh, a Mountbatten cousin. In 1960 Prince Charles, aged 12, came to stay with them at Schloss Tarasp, their Swiss home.

Taking over responsibility for the various hospitals founded by Princess Alice, Queen Victoria's daughter, and her husband's great aunt, she persuaded Prince Louis to convert a wing of Wolfsgarten into a refuge for disabled children, an invaluable haven for the victims of thalidomide.

To Wolfsgarten and Schloss Tarasp she also welcomed a wide variety of guests, artists, composers, and designers. But music was her great love. Visitors included Sir Peter Pears, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Julian Bream, Sir Edward Heath, and Mick Jagger. Sir Benjamin Britten invited her to become president of the Aldeburgh Foundation, a role she cherished until only recently.

Such was Peg Hesse's popularity that when she celebrated her 80th birthday, enormous crowds turned out in the streets to wish her well. A work composed in her honour by the composer Hans Werner Henze was played in the church at Darmstadt.

Peggy Hesse did not stand on formalities. Although she had a weakness for handsome and intelligent men, there would always be an eclectic mix at her gatherings - diplomats, royalty and writers. In her later years she suffered from cancer and lost the sight of an eye. But she was never heard to complain. She was a warm and culturally aware woman with a great enthusiasm for life.

The Prince and Princess of Hesse had no children. They adopted Princess Johanna, the one-year-old daughter of his deceased brother, but tragically she died of meningitis in 1939. In 1960, to secure the succession, the couple adopted Prince Moritz, head of the Hesse-Kassel branch of the family. Prince Louis died in 1968, and the estates now pass to Prince Moritz.