Catherine Ingrid Guinness (born 1 June 1952), known as Catherine Charteris, Lady Neidpath from 1983 to 1990 and later as Catherine Hesketh, is a British aristocrat, writer, and socialite. The first child of

Jonathan Guinness, 3rd Baron Moyne Jonathan Bryan Guinness, 3rd Baron Moyne (born 16 March 1930), is a British peer, businessman and writer. A member of the Guinness family, he is the elder of the two sons of Bryan Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne, and his first wife Diana Mitford (la ...

, she is a member of the prominent

Guinness family The Guinness family is an extensive Irish family known for its achievements in brewing, banking, politics, and religious ministry. The brewing branch is particularly well known among the general public for producing the dry stout beer Guinnes ...

and a granddaughter of

Diana Mitford Diana, Lady Mosley (''née'' Mitford; 17 June 1910 – 11 August 2003), known as Diana Guinness between 1929 and 1936, was a British fascist, aristocrat, writer, and editor. She was one of the Mitford sisters and the wife of Oswald Mosley, le ...

. Guinness was a close friend of

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

, for whom she worked as a personal assistant in New York, and was active in the New York social scene and

The Factory The Factory was Andy Warhol's art studio in Manhattan, New York City, which had four locations between 1963 and 1987. The Factory became famous for its parties in the 1960s. It was the hip hangout spot for artists, musicians, celebrities, and ...

Early life and family

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 ...

Catherine Ingrid Guinness was born on 1 June 1952 in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

to Jonathan Bryan Guinness, 3rd Baron Moyne, and Ingrid Georgia Olivia Wyndham. Her father was a member of the

, a wealthy and politically prominent Irish family that made a fortune from brewing and banking. Her mother was a member of the

Wyndham family Baron Leconfield, of Leconfield, in the East Riding of the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1859 for Col. George Wyndham (1787–1869). He was the eldest illegitimate son and adopted heir of Geor ...

and a descendant of

George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield (5 June 1787 – 18 March 1869), was a British soldier and hereditary peer. Early life A direct descendant of Sir John Wyndham, he was born in 1787, the eldest natural son of George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egr ...

. Her paternal grandparents were the poet and novelist

Bryan Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne Bryan Walter Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne (27 October 1905 – 6 July 1992) was a British aristocrat, writer, poet and heir to part of the Guinness family brewing fortune. He was vice-chairman of Guinness plc and authored several works of poetry a ...

, and the socialite

, who was one of the infamous

Mitford sisters The Mitford family is an aristocratic British family who became particularly well known in the 1930s for the six Mitford sisters, the daughters of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, and his wife, Sydney Bowles. They were celebrated and ...

. Her maternal grandparents were Major Guy Richard Charles Wyndham MC, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Guy Wyndham, and Grethe Wulfsberg, a Norwegian woman. Guinness' parents divorced in 1963, after which her mother remarried to Lord Moyne's cousin, Henry Paul Guinness Channon, Baron Kelvedon. She is the half-sister of

Daphne Guinness Daphne Diana Joan Susanna Guinness (born 9 November 1967) is an English fashion designer, socialite, actress, film producer, and musician. Early life Her father is Jonathan Guinness, 3rd Baron Moyne, the eldest son of Diana Mitford and Bryan ...

, who lived with her in New York in the early 1980s.

Adult life

Guinness was photographed by

Robert Mapplethorpe Robert Michael Mapplethorpe ( ; November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female Nude (art), n ...

in 1976. The Mapplethorpe photograph is now owned by the

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...

. Another photograph of Guinness, taken by Mapplethorpe, is in the collection of the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...

. She married James Donald Charteris, Lord Neidpath, the son and heir of

David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss Francis David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss and 8th Earl of March (19 January 1912 – 12 December 2008), styled Lord Elcho from 1916 to 1937, was a Scottish peer, landowner and conservationist. From 1946 to 1991, he served as chairman an ...

, in July 1983. Guinness and her husband lived at

Stanway House Stanway House is a Jacobean architecture, Jacobean manor house near the village of Stanway, Gloucestershire, Stanway in Gloucestershire, England. The manor of Stanway was owned by Tewkesbury Abbey for 800 years, then for 500 years by the Tracy ...

, the Charteris family's 17th-century manor in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. They have two children: Francis Richard Charteris, Lord Elcho and

Lady Mary Charteris Lady Mary Olivia Charteris Furze (born 23 April 1987) is a British fashion model, DJ, and musician. She was a vocalist and keyboardist in the English electronic rock band The Big Pink. Early life and family Lady Mary Olivia Charteris was bo ...

. Lord and Lady Neidpath divorced in 1988. In 1990, Guinness married a second time, to Robert Fleetwood Hesketh, a relative of the Baron Hesketh. They had three children. Her husband died from a drug overdose in 2004. Her husband's 1,600-acre estate in Churchtown was inherited by their son, Frank. Guinness worked as a personal assistant for her friend

. As a close associate with Warhol, she was active in

and New York's social scene. She was also a close friend of

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...

, and active in the London social scene. In 1979, Guinness appeared alongside Warhol in the film '' Cocaine Cowboys''. In 1984, she co-wrote the book ''The House of Mitford'' with her father.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guinness, Catherine Living people 1952 births British courtesy baronesses and ladies of Parliament British people of Norwegian descent British socialites Clan Charteris Daughters of barons

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

People associated with The Factory