She was born in Dorset, England, and at 19 married Winston Churchill's son, Randolph Churchill. They had a son, Winston Spencer Churchill, but divorced. She then moved to France and had a variety of affairs. She eventually moved to the United States and continued much in the same manner, marrying Averell Harriman. In 1993 she was made United States ambassador to France, by Bill Clinton. She died in 1997, after having a stroke at the Ritz.