Lady Flora Abney-Hastings

Flora Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk (née Clifton; 13 February 1854 – 11 April 1887) was a British noblewoman, philanthropist, and convert to Catholicism. Her 1878 marriage to Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk "was the event of the fashionable world" and covered widely in the press. They had one child, a severely disabled son, before she died aged 33.

Early life The Duchess of Norfolk was born in 1854 at Park Lane, Mayfair, the eldest child of Charles Clifton and Lady Edith Rawdon-Hastings. Her mother was the daughter of George Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings, younger brother of Lady Flora Hastings. In 1859, the family assumed the surname Abney-Hastings after her mother inherited the estates of her uncle Charles Abney-Hastings. In 1868, her mother succeeded to the Scottish earldom of Loudoun as 10th Countess of Loudoun, at which point she was styled Lady Flora. Her mother died in 1874. In 1880, her father was raised to the peerage as Baron Donington. Her father objected to her religious change, so she was taken under the protection of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, who was the mother of her future husband, Henry, Duke of Norfolk. They became engaged on 21 November 1877.

The nuptials, known as the "Nuptials of Norfolk," took place on November 26, 1877, at the Oratory in Brompton, and were attended by a notable assemblage of aristocrats, including the Lord Bute, Lord Howard, the Princess Louise; and Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Beaconsfield and Prime Minister of England.

Philanthrophy The Duchess was a devout Catholic, and her generous financial contributions enabled the construction of a noble funerary chapel, Chapel of the Seven Dolours, dedicated to the Mother of Sorrows at the Brompton Oratory. A plaque commemorating the Norfolk's contribution is mounted above the left confessional.

The Duchess was inspired to build the Convent of Poor Clares in Crossbush, Arundel. She funded the construction of the convent and the church, and the first group of nuns, eight choir sisters and two externs, arrived in September 1886 from Notting Hill. It was her last major project. After her death, the convent was extended and improved by her husband.

Death The Duchess died at the age of 33 on 11 April 1887, after a "long and latterly painful illness" from Bright's disease. She is buried in the Fitzalan Chapel in Arundel.