Maurice Raoul-Duval was once described as a “tall, good-looking Frenchman” who had lost a fortune and was trying to regain it. He came from a wealthy Parisian family, but was educated at King’s College, Cambridge. In 1910 he married into the peerage via Fanny Lawrence Venables-Vernon, daughter of the 7th Baron Vernon. Fighting for France in World War I with the 66th French Infantry, Maurice Raoul-Duval was killed in action at Meuse, in the Verdun sector.
On the polo field, Maurice was one of three polo-playing brothers, along with René and Charles. Maurice and Charles were in the same Paris team in a match against an American team at the Hurlingham Club in 1897 and they were also in the same team that won the Association Cup at Meadow Brook, USA. Maurice won the Warwickshire Cup in 1900, and between 1898-1903 won the Paris International Tournament four times. He competed in the 1900 Olympics and in 1905 was in the Paris team who beat Budapest for the Continental Cup at Ostend. Maurice Raoul-Duval was the former brother-in-law of fellow polo player Auguste Fauquet-Lemaître.
France