Everyone knows that the press can make or break a reputation. The press can give status, and they can take it away, with a few swipes of the pen. In 1930, when a London stage actress married a British army man stationed on Eleuthera, in the Bahamas, she was crowned “queen of the island” by the British Press.
Many actresses have married famous men, and every so often they marry royalty, and then sometimes, the media confers royal high status on them. When actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco, she was made royalty. Then of course there was the recent fanfare over actress Meghan Markle marrying into the British royal family, making her the Duchess of Sussex.
It seems there must be something about those who inhabit the esoteric heights of the artistic world.
ELEUTHERA GETS AN ACTRESS QUEEN 1930
Actress Juanita Ashton married a British army man on Tuesday October 28th, 1930, in Christ Church Cathedral located in the heart of the capital city, Nassau. The husband, a Captain, was stationed in Eleuthera either as a policeman or as part of a British army contingent.
The former Miss Ashton became Mrs. Montagu Stewart-Hayes.
In 1930, there were some 8,000 native people living on Eleuthera. They were all negroes apparently.
The British and American press didn’t waste any time in conferring royal status on the actress. A “Jane” in the jungle.
(Portsmouth Evening News, Wednesday 29 October, 1930)
ISLAND QUEEN NOW.
FORMER ACTRESS WILL BE ONLY WHITE WOMAN.
Miss Juanita Ashton, who until recently was on the London stage, was married yesterday in the Cathedral on the island of Nassau, in the Bahamas, to Captain Montague Stewart- Hayes, Kingsbury, and also of the island of Eleuthera.
When the bride and bridegroom go to their home on Eleuthera, Mrs Stewart-Hayes will be the “queen of the island,” as she will be the only white woman living there among a population of about 8,000.
The bridegroom is the eldest son of Mr William Montague Hayes and Mrs Hayes of Kingsbury, and the bride is the daughter of Mrs. Ashton, of Phillimore Terrace, London.
