Mrs Anthony Eden & son Simon by Madame Yevonde

Mrs Anthony Eden, nee Beatrice Beckett pictured with her baby son, Simon. In 1923, shortly before Eden's election to Parliament, he married Beatrice and together they had three sons: Simon (born 1924), Robert, and Nicholas (1930-1985). Robert died soon after birth in 1928. The marriage was not a success, with both parties apparently conducting affairs. By the mid-1930s his diaries seldom mention Beatrice. The marriage finally broke up under the strain of the loss of their son Simon, who was killed in action with the RAF in Burma in 1945. His plane was reported "missing in action" on 23 June, and found on 16 July Eden did not want the news to be public until after the election on 5 July, to avoid claims of "making political capital" from it

Beatrice Beckett Feb16

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