Cynthia Cambridge was the British showgirl who died in a tragic horse riding accident
She was born Doris Cynthia Cambridge on August 16, 1901 London, England Cynthia had three younger brothers. Her father, Joseph Cambridge, was the managing director of Bakers Coach Boilers in London, The family claimed to be related to the Duke of Cambridge. At the age of eighteen Cynthia was named Miss England. She moved to New York City and made her Broadway debut in the 1923 musical Jack and Jill. Then she was asked to join the Ziegfeld Follies. She spent three seasons with the Follies where she became close friends with Peggy Shannon. The two showgirls often went on double dates together. Cynthia made headlines in 1924 when she accused New York broker Charles W. Turner of swindling her out of $3,000.
She announced her engagement to Thomas Manville Jr, heir to an asbestos fortune, in November of 1924. The couple never made it down the aisle. For a short time Cynthia ran a novelty shop in New York City. In 1925 she married an Argentinian banker and quit show business. After divorcing her husband in 1928 she returned to England. During the summer of 1929 she began dating an Egyptian prince who owned a diamond mine. On September 11, 1929 she was riding her horse in Hyde Park. Suddenly the horse collided with a taxi cab and she was thrown to the ground. Cynthia's skull was fractured and she died at the hospital later that day. She was only twenty-eight years old. Sadly she had been estranged from her parents during the final year of her life.
