Molly and the Rajah

One photograph  amongst the Cecil Beaton and  Man Ray portraits in the Art Gallery of Ontario's MAHARAJA exhibition caught my eye. It was captioned "Molly from Melbourne" and it was the first time I'd ever discovered this woman's extraordinary story. Molly Fink was born on September 15th 1894 (Go, Virgos!) and grew up in Malvern, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. It was a trip to Sydney which Molly undertook with her mother in 1915 that changed her life. Because also in the city at that time was a certain Martanda Tondaiman, the Rajah of Pudukottai, a small principality in southern India. In then-unenlightened Australia the rajah received bad press for daring to adopt Western dress. But it was nothing compared to the hostility he would face after meeting beautiful young Molly Fink in a Sydney hotel in 1915 and marrying her the same year.

Raj overlords from King George V down frowned on the mixed-race marriage, and officials secretly sought out dirt on the Australian bride before begrudgingly admitting she wasn’t a gold digger.

The couple headed to Pudukottai where Molly soon became pregnant, while also falling seriously ill. It transpired that she had been poisoned by oleander, a lethal plant which can also induce miscarriages; suspicion fell on members of the rajah’s family. The couple decided to leave, but with the First World War raging in Europe they were more or less obliged to return to unfriendly Australia. After a visit lasting only a few months, Molly would never see her husband’s fiefdom again.

Molly gave birth to a son, Martanda Sydney Tondaiman. The rajah became a noted horseracing identity but in 1919 the couple left Australia to fight for Molly’s status and their son’s inheritance. To no avail. In 1920 the couple were told that Martanda Jr. would never inherit the throne, and so the Rajah  abdicated, appointing his brother to rule in his place.
Having negotiated a large financial settlement, the couple settled in Cannes in 1922. The rajah turned again to horseracing, and Molly turned heads at racing fixtures in outfits by Chanel and Lanvin. She was a friend of Jean Patou and bought the first-ever Schiaparelli evening dress.

The rajah died unexpectedly in 1928, but by that time Molly had developed a taste for the high life. Writer Osbert Lancaster leaves a memorable image of Molly in Cap d’Antibes accompanied by “her teenage son with gilded toe-nails and made up to the nines, feeding asparagus tips to a pet tortoise with a diamond-encrusted shell.” Martanda Jr. was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland.
Molly became friendly with Cecil Beaton, travelling with him to New York, along with Anita Loos. Molly stayed in the city during much of the Second World War, and was active in raising donations for Australian and Canadian servicemen. Her own money was out of reach on the other side of the Atlantic and so she worked at department store Bonwit Teller to make ends meet.

Towards the end of the war Molly returned to London where she became increasingly reclusive, depressive and alcoholic, doting on her beloved Pekinese dogs. One of her last acts was to organise the donation of much of her impressive wardrobe to the Museum of Costume in Bath. She died in Cannes in 1967. Martanda Jr. moved to New York and landed in Sing Sing after a jewel heist before being deported to Cuba. He would end up dying alone in Florence in 1984. Edward  Duyker  and  Coralie Younger wrote a biography called Molly and the Rajah  in 1991. Described as "redolent of  'Anna and the King of Siam'" (Canberra Times),  the book drew the attention of a number of film makers. Although the motion picture rights were reported sold and the film went into pre-production , these rights have now lapsed and the film is yet to be made. Great story, isn't it?

(with thanks to James Conway)