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Sonia Rosemary Keppel
Sonia Rosemary Cubitt, (''née'' Keppel, previously The Hon. Mrs. Cubitt; 24 May 1900 – 16 August 1986) was a British socialite, author and aristocrat. She was the first wife of Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe, and, through her only daughter Rosalind, was the maternal grandmother of Queen Camilla. Sonia is also known as the daughter of Alice Keppel, a mistress of King Edward VII. Childhood Sonia Rosemary Keppel was born on 24 May 1900, as the youngest child of the Hon. George Keppel (1865–1947) and Alice Frederica Keppel (née Edmonstone; 1868–1947). Her mother was the youngest child of Sir William Edmonstone, 4th Baronet, while George was a son of William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle, and his wife Sophia Mary Keppel (née MacNab). Sonia's mother Alice was a British society hostess and a long-time royal mistress of King Edward VII. She was a goddaughter of Dame Margaret Greville and inherited some of her fortune. Sonia's only sibling was the English writer and so ...
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The Honourable
''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style (manner of address), style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain people, usually with official governmental or diplomatic positions. Use by governments International diplomacy In international diplomatic relations, representatives of foreign states are often styled as ''The Honourable''. Deputy chiefs of mission, , consuls-general, consuls and honorary consuls are always given the style. All heads of consular posts, whether they are honorary or career postholders, are accorded the style according to the State Department of the United States. However, the style ''Excellency'' instead of ''The Honourable'' is used for ambassadors and high commissioners only. Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo In the Democrati ...
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Socialite
A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditional employment. Word history The word ''socialite'' is first attested in 1909 in a Tennessee newspaper. It was popularized by Time (magazine), ''Time'' magazine in the 1920s.David E. Sumner, ''The Magazine Century: American Magazines Since 1900'', 2010, , p. 62 United Kingdom Historically, socialites in the United Kingdom were almost exclusively from the families of the British nobility, aristocracy and landed gentry. Many socialites also had strong familial or personal relationships to the British royal family. Between the 17th and early 19th centuries, society events in London and at English country house, country houses were the focus of socialite activity. Notable examples of British socialites include Beau Brummell, William ...
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Denis Alexander, 6th Earl Of Caledon
Earl of Caledon, of Caledon in the County of Tyrone, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for James Alexander, 1st Viscount Caledon. He was a merchant who had made an enormous fortune in India. He also represented the constituency of Londonderry City in the Irish House of Commons. Alexander had already been created Baron Caledon in 1790 and Viscount Caledon, of Caledon in the County of Tyrone, in 1797, also in the Peerage of Ireland. In 1784, James Alexander purchased a city house in Dublin at Rutland Square (now Parnell Square) where he lived when serving as an MP for Derry. He was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. He was the first Governor of the Cape Colony and sat in the House of Lords as an Irish representative peer from 1804 to 1839. His son, the third Earl, briefly represented County Tyrone in the House of Commons as a Tory and was an Irish Representative Peer between 1841 and 1855. His eldest son, the fourth Earl, sat in the House of Lor ...
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Ghislaine Alexander
Ghislaine Marie-Rose Edith Alexander (''née'' Dresselhuys; 7 January 1922 – 25 April 2000) was a wealthy heiress and British socialite who was a panelist on the British version of ''What's My Line?''. Life and times Alexander was the only daughter of Cornelius William Dresselhuys and Edith Merandon du Plessis, born at the Dutch consulate in London, where her father was consul. Her parents divorced when Ghislaine was young, and her mother married newspaper publisher Lord Kemsley, who became Alexander's stepfather. She was married three times, first to Major Denis Alexander, 6th Earl of Caledon, then to Henry Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe; both marriages ended in divorce. At the time of her death she was married to Adrian Foley, 8th Baron Foley, a former composer and pianist. Tall and attractive, often described as one of the most beautiful women in the world, Ghislaine Alexander became famous for her appearances as a panelist on Britain's ''What's My Line?'' television quiz sh ...
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Henry Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe
Henry Edward Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe (31 March 1924 – 4 December 2013), was a British hereditary peer. He was the son of Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe, and Sonia Rosemary Keppel, and the uncle and godfather of Queen Camilla. Education and career Educated at Eton College, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. After the War he became chairman of Holland, Hannen & Cubitts, the family construction firm. He was the London-based Consul-General for Monaco from 1961 to 1968. Family He was married three times without issue: * Ghislaine Alexander, Ghislaine (née Dresselhuys), Countess of Caledon (ex-wife of the Denis Alexander, 6th Earl of Caledon, 6th Earl of Caledon), was married to Lord Ashcombe from 1955 to 1968. In 1972, she married Adrian Foley, 8th Baron Foley. * Virginia Carington (daughter of Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington) was married to Lord Ashcombe from 1973 to 1979. She was a special aide to Charles III, the Prince of Wales an ...
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Mark Shand
Mark Roland Shand (28 June 1951 – 23 April 2014) was an English travel writer and conservationist, as well as the brother of Queen Camilla. Shand was the author of four travel books and as a BBC conservationist, appeared in documentaries related to his journeys, most of which centered on the survival of elephants. His book ''Travels on My Elephant'' became a bestseller and won the Travel Writer of the Year Award at the British Book Awards in 1992. He was the chairman of Elephant Family, a wildlife foundation, which he co-founded in 2002. Family, education and marriage Shand was born on 28 June 1951, as the son of Major Bruce Shand (1917–2006) and his wife, Rosalind Cubitt (1921–1994), daughter of the 3rd Baron Ashcombe and Sonia Rosemary Keppel, daughter of Alice Keppel. He was the brother of Queen Camilla (formerly Camilla Parker-Bowles) and Annabel Elliot. Shand was educated first at St Ronan's School in Kent and then Milton Abbey School in Dorset. He was expelled ...
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Annabel Elliot
Sonia Annabel Elliot (' Shand; born 2 February 1949) is a British interior designer and antiques dealer. She is the mother of British Conservative politician Sir Ben Elliot, who served as the Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party. She is also the sister of Queen Camilla. Personal life Elliot is the daughter of Major Bruce Shand (1917–2006) and his wife, The Honourable Rosalind Cubitt (1921–1994), daughter of the 3rd Baron Ashcombe and Sonia Rosemary Keppel. Her elder sister is Queen Camilla (born 1947), and her brother was travel writer Mark Shand (1951–2014). Elliot went to Florence, Italy, to study fine art. On 27 April 1972, at the age of 23, she married Simon Elliot (1940–2023), a Dorset landowner and son of Air Chief Marshal Sir William Elliot and Rosemary Chancellor. They have three children, including Sir Ben Elliot, a former Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party. Career Elliot is the founder of Annabel Elliot Interior design and antiques, which is base ...
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Bruce Shand
Bruce Middleton Hope Shand, (22 January 1917 – 11 June 2006) was an officer in the British Army who served in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force during the Second World War. He was the father of Queen Camilla. After the war he became a wine merchant. He was Vice-Lord-Lieutenant of East Sussex from 1974 until 1992 and was a Master of Foxhounds. Early life Shand was born in London into an upper-class landed gentry family whose ancestors had moved to England from Scotland. He was the only son of Philip Morton Shand (1888–1960), an architectural writer and critic (from his first marriage). His father was a close friend of Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier and whose company, ''Finmar'', imported furniture by Alvar Aalto to the United Kingdom. His mother was Edith Marguerite Harrington (1893–1981), later Mrs. Herbert Charles Tippet. His parents divorced when he was three years old. His father went on to remarry three times. Shand did not see his fathe ...
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Major (United Kingdom)
Major (Maj) is a military rank which is used by both the British Army and Royal Marines. The rank is superior to Captain (British Army and Royal Marines), captain and subordinate to Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom), lieutenant colonel. The insignia for a major is a Crown (headgear), crown. The equivalent rank in the Royal Navy is Lieutenant commander (Royal Navy), lieutenant commander, and squadron leader in the Royal Air Force. History By the time of the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleonic wars, an infantry battalion usually had two majors, designated the "senior major" and the "junior major". The senior major effectively acted as second-in-command and the majors often commanded detachments of two or more company (military unit), companies split from the main body. The second-in-command of a battalion or regiment is still a major. File:British-Army-Maj(1856-1867)-Collar Insignia.svg, 1856 to 1867 major's collar rank insignia File:British-Army-Maj(1867-1880)-Collar Insignia.svg, 18 ...
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Thomas Cubitt
Thomas Cubitt (25 February 1788 – 20 December 1855) was a British master builder, notable for his employment in developing many of the historic streets and squares of London, especially in Belgravia, Pimlico and Bloomsbury. Background The son of a Norfolk carpenter, he journeyed to Company rule in India, India as a ship's carpenter, from which he earned sufficient funds to start his own building firm in 1810 on Gray's Inn Road, London, where he was one of the first builders to have a 'modern' system of employing all the trades under his own management. Work Cubitt's first major building was the London Institution in Finsbury Circus, built in 1815. After this he worked primarily on speculative housing at Camden Town, Islington, and especially at Highbury, Highbury Park, Stoke Newington. His development of areas of Bloomsbury, including Gordon Square and Tavistock Square, began in 1820, for a group of landowners including the John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, Duke of Bedf ...
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Baron Ashcombe
Baron Ashcombe, of Dorking in the County of Surrey and of Bodiam Castle in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1892 for the Conservative politician George Cubitt of Denbies House, Dorking, Surrey, who was continuously elected at elections over a 32-year period. He was the son of the architect Thomas Cubitt. Lord Ashcombe was succeeded by his son, the second Baron. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Surrey. , the title is held by his kinsman, the fifth Baron, who succeeded his first cousin, once removed in 2013. Rosalind Shand, daughter of the third Baron, was the mother of Queen Camilla. Bodiam Castle in East Sussex was purchased by the first Baron in 1874 held until his trustees sold in 1916. The family seat was then at Denbies House until its demolition in the 1950s. The 4th Baron Ashcombe resided at Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire, which is still held by his widow. The curren ...
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Henry Cubitt, 2nd Baron Ashcombe
Henry Edward Cubitt, 2nd Baron Ashcombe (14 March 1867 – 27 October 1947), was a British politician and peer, the son of George Cubitt, 1st Baron Ashcombe, and his wife Laura Joyce. He is also the great-grandfather of Queen Camilla. Education and career Cubitt was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Reigate between 1892 and 1906. He later served as Lord Lieutenant of Surrey from 1905 to 1939, and was appointed to the Order of the Bath as a Companion (CB) in 1911. Cubitt succeeded to the peerage upon the death of his father in 1917. He was appointed to be a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Surrey in 1940. Denbies, a large estate in Surrey, was included in his inheritance from his father. The payment of death duties and the upkeep of large estates during World War I resulted in large parts of the estate being auctioned on 19 September 1921. He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 4th Battalion, ...
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