Barbara Cartland was born in Edgbaston, West Midlands, into a wealthy family. She attended Malvern Girls’ College and Abbey House, Netley Abbey, Hampshire. Her grandfather committed suicide when he went bankrupt and father was killed in Flanders in 1918. Cartland was reared by her strong mother, who moved the family to London and opened her own business, a dress shop in Kensington.
Cartland was one of the ‘bright young things’ of the post-war period—she was independent, talented, and smart. She also married well. Her first step into fame was her work as a Fleet Street reporter. In her book of memoirs, We Danced All Night : 1919-1929 (1970), Cartland depicted how she made her way among the influential and the beautiful after leaving school and the sheltered world of a child in 1919. As a journalist Cartland wrote gossip columns for the Daily Express. At the age of 20 she started her first novel. Cartland’s success began from Jigsaw in 1925. In the 1920s she wrote the play Blood Money and two other novels. Her output of book grew steadily, averaging over 20 in the mid-1970s. By 1993, Cartland’s books had sold over 600 million copies.
During World War II Cartland was Chief Lady Welfare Officer for Bedfordshire (1941-45). Her brother, Ronald Cartland, was the first Member of Parliament to be killed in the war. She also acted as a political speaker for the Conservatives, county councillor for Hertfordshire, chairman of the St. John Council, deputy president of St. John Ambulance Brigade, and president of Hertfordshire branch of Royal Coolege of Midwives. In the 1960s she founded the National Association of Health and was its president. Cartland also fought for better conditions and salaries for Midwives and Nurses. She has championed the cause for old people and had the law altered regarding gypsies. Cartland herself lived on her luxurious estate 15 miles north of London, but she founded the first Romany Gypsy camp in the world, giving a portion of her 300-acre estate to them. In her autobiographies Cartland revealed her interest in natural health. In this role she advocated such treatments as acupuncture, holistic medicine, and health foods. Controversially, when she gave interviews, she was caked with makeup.
Cartland married in 1927 Alexander George McCorquodale and became step-mother of the mother of Raine, Countess Spencer, step-mother of the late Princess of Wales, Diana Spencer. After divorce Cartland married Hugh McCorquodale in 1936, a cousin of her first husband. In 1991 Cartland was made Dame of the Order of the British Empire. Among her several awards are Dame of Grace, St. John of Jerusalem, Certificate of Merit, Eastern Command (1946), National Home Furnishings Associations Woman of the Year Award (1981), Bishop Wright Air Industry award (1984), and Gold Medal of the City of Paris for Achievement (1988). In the Guinness Book of Records Cartland was listed for writing 26 books in 1983. Actually, she did not write, but most of her career dictated, on average two volumes per month. Barbara Cartland died on May 21, 2000, after a short illness. During her career she published 723 books, which were translated into some 40 languages. Cartland also wrote film scripts. She left behind 130 unpublished novels wrapped in pink ribbon. They started to appear in 2004 in a series called The Barbara Cartland Pink Collection.
