Lucy Margaret Mary Birley (''née'' Helmore; 18 September 1959 – 23 July 2018) was a British model, photographer, and socialite.

Early life

Birley was born in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

and raised in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007'' She was the daughter of Mary (née Hull) and Patrick Helmore, an underwriter at the

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is a insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gover ...

insurance corporation. Her brother is Edward Helmore, a journalist for ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer''. She attended

Woldingham School Woldingham School is an Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent Boarding school, boarding and day school for girls, located in the former Marden Park of outside the village of Woldingham, Surrey, in South East England. It is a Roman ...

and began fox-hunting at the age of twelve. She left home at seventeen and moved in with several friends, including actor

Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupil at an English public scho ...

Career

Birley (then Helmore) began her career as a

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to display commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as an artist's model. Modelling ("modeling" in American English) entails using one's body to represent someone ...

in her late teens. She was photographed by

Steven Meisel Steven Meisel (born June 5, 1954) is an American fashion photographer, who obtained popularity and critical acclaim with his work in '' Vogue'' and '' Vogue Italia'' as well as his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book, '' Sex''. He is ...

and

Robert Mapplethorpe Robert Michael Mapplethorpe ( ; November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female Nude (art), n ...

and influenced designers

Christian Lacroix Christian Marie Marc Lacroix (; born 16 May 1951) is a French fashion designer. The name may also refer to the company he founded. Lacroix's designs combine luxury and insouciance. He prefers artisanal trades, fringe, bead, and embroidery. He's ...

Manolo Blahnik Manuel "Manolo" Blahnik Rodríguez (; born 27 November 1942) is a Spanish fashion designer and founder of the eponymous high-end shoe brand. Biography Blahnik was born in Santa Cruz de la Palma, in the Canary Islands (Spain), to a Czech father ...

and

Philip Treacy Philip Anthony Treacy (born 26 May 1967) is an Irish haute couture Hatmaking, milliner, or hat designer, who has been mostly based in London for his career, and who was described by ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' magazine as "perhaps the greatest ...

. In May 1982, she was photographed wearing a medieval helmet and holding a falcon at Crumlin Lodge, outside of

Inverin Inverin (, meaning "mouth of the river") is a Gaeltacht village between Baile na hAbhann and Minna in County Galway, Ireland. There are Irish-language summer colleges in the area, most notably Coláiste Lurgan and Coláiste Uí Chadhain. The v ...

Connemara Connemara ( ; ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...

for the cover of

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...

's album ''

Avalon Avalon () is an island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' as a place of magic where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was made and later where Arthur was taken to recove ...

''. As a photographer, she worked solely with manual cameras and favoured a twin-lens

Rolleiflex Rolleiflex is a long-running and diverse line of high-end cameras originally made by the German company Franke & Heidecke, and later Rollei-Werke. History The "Rolleiflex" name is most commonly used to refer to Rollei's premier line of med ...

camera. Birley developed her own film and exhibited her work in London. Some of her subjects were

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and art collector. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest ...

and

Isabella Blow Isabella Blow (née Delves Broughton; 19 November 1958 – 7 May 2007) was an English magazine editor. She was mentor to Philip Treacy, and is credited with discovering the models Stella Tennant and Sophie Dahl, and fashion designer Alexander ...

Personal life

She began dating

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He became known as the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also launched a solo career. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established ...

after his girlfriend

Jerry Hall Jerry Faye Hall (born July 2, 1956) is an American model and actress. She began modeling in the 1970s and became one of the most sought-after models in the world. She transitioned into acting, appearing in the 1989 film ''Batman''. Hall was the ...

left him for

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

. Ferry was fourteen years her senior. On 26 June 1982, at the age of twenty two she married

at the Church of St Anthony and St George at

Duncton Duncton is a village and civil parish in the Chichester (district), District of Chichester in West Sussex, England. The village is in the South Downs south of Petworth on the A285 road. The civil parish is about long north – south and less ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. They had four sons: Otis, Isaac, Tara, and Merlin. They divorced on 31 March 2003. She battled

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

, substance dependency and depression. In the 1990s, Birley attended

Narcotics Anonymous Narcotics Anonymous (NA), founded in 1953, describes itself as a "nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem." Narcotics Anonymous uses a 12-step model developed for people with varied subs ...

and

Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global, peer-led Mutual aid, mutual-aid fellowship focused on an abstinence-based recovery model from alcoholism through its spiritually inclined twelve-step program. AA's Twelve Traditions, besides emphasizing anon ...

to help recover from

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

. In October 2006, she married Robin Birley, son of Mark Birley and Lady Annabel Goldsmith.

Death

She died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 23 July 2018, aged 58, while on holiday in

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

, 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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birley, Lucy 1959 births 2018 deaths 2018 suicides Suicides by firearm in Ireland Photographers from Shropshire English female models

Lucy Lucy is an English language, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings ar ...

People from Oswestry Models from Shropshire