Effie Gray - Later Life

Later Life

The annulment from Ruskin barred her from some social functions. She was not allowed in the presence of Queen Victoria, precluding invitations to events at which the Queen was present. Prior to the annulment, she had been socially very active and this bothered both her and her husband considerably, although many in society were still prepared to receive her and to press her case sympathetically. Eventually, when Millais was dying, the Queen relented through the intervention of her daughter Princess Louise, allowing Gray to attend an official function. Sixteen months after Millais' death, Effie died at Bowerswell on 23 December 1897 and was buried in Kinnoull churchyard, Perth, which is depicted in Millais's painting The Vale of Rest.