Lady Davina Elizabeth Alice Benedikte Windsor (born 19 November 1977) is a member of the

British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

, and is the elder daughter of the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

and

Duchess of Gloucester Duchess of Gloucester is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Gloucester. There have been five titles referring to Gloucester since the 14th century. The current duchess is Birgitt ...

. Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh. " Burke's Royal Families of the World: ''Volume II Africa & the Middle East'', Addendum to Volume I, 1980, pp. 312. She is 36th in the line of

succession to the British throne Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, sex, legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest Collateral descendant, collateral line. The Bil ...

. She was known as Lady Davina Lewis between 2004 and 2018, during her marriage to Gary Lewis.

Early life and education

Davina was born at

St Mary's Hospital, London St Mary's Hospital is a teaching hospital in Paddington, in the City of Westminster, London, founded in 1845. Since the UK's first academic health science centre was created in 2008, it has been operated by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust ...

. She was baptised on 19 February 1978 at Barnwell Parish Church, close to the family home, Barnwell Manor in Northamptonshire. Her godparents are

Captain Mark Phillips Mark Anthony Peter Phillips (born 22 September 1948) is an English Olympic gold medal-winning horseman for Great Britain and the first husband of Anne, Princess Royal, with whom he has two children. He remains a leading figure in British eque ...

, the

Duke of Buccleuch Duke of Buccleuch ( ), formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created twice on 20 April 1663, first for James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, and second ''suo jure'' for his wife Anne Scott, 4th Countess of ...

, Elisabeth, Lady Camoys, Susan Wigley, Roger Wellesley Smith and Caroline, Baroness Rosenørn-Lehn. Lady Davina grew up in

Kensington Palace Kensington Palace is a royal residence situated within Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has served as a residence for the British royal family since the 17th century and is currently the ...

. She was educated at Kensington Preparatory School in

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

, followed by St George's School, Ascot. She is a graduate of the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

, with a degree in media studies.

Marriage and children

On 31 July 2004, Davina married Gary Christie Lewis (born 1970), a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

. Lewis is a carpenter who runs a property renovation business and is a

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

enthusiast. The couple had known each other for four years, having met on holiday in

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

, but they kept their relationship secret for several years. Lewis is the son of Larry Lewis, a

builder who was runner-up in the

Golden Shears The Golden Shears International Shearing and Woolhandling Championships is the world's most prestigious sheep shearing event. It was founded in Masterton, New Zealand, and been held in the town's War Memorial Stadium each March since 1961. It in ...

sheep-shearing competition in 1982. His uncle is the prominent Māori author

Witi Ihimaera Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler (; born 7 February 1944) is a New Zealand author. Raised in the small town of Waituhi, he decided to become a writer as a teenager after being convinced that Māori people, Māori people were ignored or mischaracteri ...

who wrote '' The Whale Rider'' which became a film of the same name. Lewis is also the first person of known Māori descent to marry a member of the royal family, or to marry the daughter of a

British prince Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a royal title normally granted to sons and grandsons of reigning and past British monarchs, plus consorts of female monarchs (by letters patent). The title is granted by the ...

. As she is a legitimate descendant in the

male line Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

of George V and in line to the British throne, the

Royal Marriages Act 1772 The Royal Marriages Act 1772 (12 Geo. 3. c. 11) was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribed the conditions under which members of the British royal family could contract a valid marriage, in order to guard ...

required that

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

to the wedding be obtained in advance for the marriage to be legal and the descendants thereof to inherit rights of succession to the thrones of the

Commonwealth realms A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations that has the same constitutional monarch and head of state as the other realms. The current monarch is King Charles III. Except for the United Kingdom, in each of the ...

, including that of New Zealand. On 20 July 2004, the

Queen-in-Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it refers to the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of app ...

formally declared her consent to the marriage. The wedding took place at the private chapel of

, Lady Davina's childhood home. Apart from the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the bride's siblings, no other members of the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

were present at the wedding; only close friends and family were involved. The couple divorced in 2018. Davina and her former husband have a daughter, Senna Kowhai, who was born on 22 June 2010 and a son, Tāne Mahuta, who was born 25 May 2012. Her son was named after the

Tāne Mahuta Tāne Mahuta, also called "God of the Forest", is a giant Agathis australis, kauri tree (''Agathis australis'') in the Waipoua Forest of Northland Region, New Zealand. Its age is unknown but is estimated to be between 1,250 and 2,500 years. It ...

, a giant

kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees, native to Australasia and Southeast Asia. It is one of three extant genera in the family Araucariaceae, alongside '' Wollemia'' and ''Araucaria'' (being ...

tree in the Waipoua Forest of

Northland Region Northland (), officially the Northland Region, is the northernmost of New Zealand's 16 regions of New Zealand, local government regions. New Zealanders sometimes refer to it as the Winterless North because of its mild climate all throughout t ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Lady Davina was also stepmother to Lewis's son from a previous relationship, Ari (born 1992). Until 26 March 2015, Tāne was ahead of Senna in the line of

since sons had priority over daughters based on tradition and

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

. When the

Succession to the Crown Act 2013 The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 (c. 20) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the laws of succession to the British throne in accordance with the 2011 Perth Agreement. The Act replaced male-preference primogenitur ...

took effect in all Commonwealth realms in 2015, Senna became the nearest relative of the reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, to be affected by the change in law, which advanced her proximity to the Crown by reversing her place in the order of succession with that of her younger brother. Senna and Tāne became 28th and 29th in line, respectively. Lady Davina does not carry out official functions but does attend family events including royal weddings. Lady Davina and Gary Lewis were invited to attend the Queen's reception for members of the New Zealand

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

in 2005. She and her then husband also attended Prince William's wedding in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Windsor, Davina, Lady 1977 births Living people Alumni of the University of the West of England, Bristol Daughters of British dukes English people of Danish descent Halbert-Kohere family Davina Windsor People educated at St. George's School, Ascot People from Paddington