Lady Helen Marina Lucy Taylor (''née'' Windsor; born 28 April 1964) 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 ...

. She is the daughter of

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick; born 9 October 1935) is a member of the British royal family. The elder son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, he is a grandson of George ...

, and

Katharine, Duchess of Kent Katharine, Duchess of Kent (born Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley; 22 February 1933) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, a grandson of King George V. The Duchess of Kent converted to Catholicism i ...

, and a great-granddaughter of

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

. She is currently 48th 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 ...

Early life and youth

Lady Helen was born in April 1964 at

Coppins Coppins is a country house north of the village of Iver in Buckinghamshire, England. Located only seven miles from Windsor Castle, it was formerly a home to many members of the British royal family, including Princess Victoria, Prince George, ...

, a country house in

Iver Iver is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central nucleated village, clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park and the hamlets o ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, the only 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 Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, Duchess of Kent ...

. She was christened on 6 June 1964 at the private chapel at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

by the

Dean of Windsor The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the Canon (priest), canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, England. The dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as ''primus inter pares''. The post of Dean of Wolverhampton was assimilat ...

Rt. Rev. Robin Woods. Her godparents were

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. Ma ...

; Hon.

Angus Ogilvy Sir Angus James Bruce Ogilvy (14 September 1928 – 26 December 2004) was a British businessman. He is best known as the husband of Princess Alexandra of Kent, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. Ogilvy is also remembered for his role in a bu ...

, Myra Butter, and Sir Philip Hay. She was educated at Eton End School in

Datchet Datchet is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England, on the north bank of the River Thames. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Buckinghamshire, and the Stoke Hundred, the vi ...

, then at

St Mary's School, Wantage St Mary's School was a private day and boarding girls' school located in Wantage, Oxfordshire, England. In 2007 it merged with Heathfield School to become Heathfield St Mary's School (later reverted to Heathfield) and the Wantage site was close ...

, and

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School ( ) is an elite co-educational Private school (United Kingdom), private school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. Two generations of British royalty were educated at Gordonstoun, including Prince Philip, Duke of Ed ...

. At Gordonstoun, she was one of 20

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

girls "in the robustly masculine environment of Gordonstoun," wrote Alan Hamilton. She was called "Melons" in the popular press.

I was slightly chubby, it was the boys at Gordonstoun who called me that. I think there are only about two people who call me that now. The original context has long gone

During the 1980s, her boyfriend was

Nigel Oakes Nigel John Oakes (born July 1962) is a British businessman, and the founder and CEO of Behavioural Dynamics Institute and SCL Group (formerly Strategic Communication Laboratories), the parent company of Cambridge Analytica and her sister Aggreg ...

, who "appalled the Queen" after she smuggled him into her parents'

grace-and-favour A grace-and-favour home is a residential property owned by a monarch, government, or other owner and leased rent-free to a person as part of the perquisites of their employment, or in gratitude for services rendered. Usage of the term is chie ...

home,

York House, St James's Palace York House is a historic wing of St James's Palace, London, built for Frederick, Prince of Wales, on his marriage in 1736. It is in the north-western part of the palace on the site of a former suttling-house (canteen) for the Guards; it overlooks ...

. According to

Lol Tolhurst Laurence Andrew Tolhurst (born 3 February 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, producer, and author. He was a founding member of the Cure, for which he first played drums before switching to keyboards. He stayed a member of the Cure until ...

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

, Lady Helen was a "mad Cure fan" who visited the band backstage at a gig in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

in 1983.

Career

After she left Gordonstoun (where she had art class), she was desperate to come to London and earn money, starting in 1984 at Christie's auction house in their Contemporary Department. Lady Helen worked with the art dealer

Karsten Schubert Karsten Schubert (12 August 1961 – 30 July 2019) was a German art dealer and publisher working in London. Career Before opening his own gallery, Schubert worked at the Lisson Gallery. Karsten Schubert London Schubert ran Karsten Schubert Lon ...

between 1987 and 1991, behind the front desk, and was later credited with discovering

Rachel Whiteread Dame Rachel Whiteread (born 20 April 1963) is an English artist who primarily produces sculptures, which typically take the form of casts. She was the first woman to win the annual Turner Prize in 1993. Whiteread was one of the Young British ...

and

Gary Hume Gary Stewart Hume (born 9 May 1962) is an English artist. Hume's work is strongly identified with the YBA who came to prominence in the early 1990s. Hume lives and works in London and Accord, New York.

, but confessed in a television interview that she had turned down representing artist

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and art collector. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest ...

. For 17 years, Lady Helen was a fashion ambassador and muse to

Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer and a billionaire. He first gained renown working for Cerruti 1881. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expanded into music, sport, and luxury hotels. By 200 ...

Marriage and children

At 19, Lady Helen met Timothy Verner Taylor (born 8 August 1963), an art dealer and the eldest son of Commander Michael Verner Taylor, RN and Susan Geraldine Percy. They married nine years later, on 18 July 1992, at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. The bride wore a Catherine Walker design.

provided an outfit for her wedding. In 1998, her husband was diagnosed with

Hodgkin's disease Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

. Lady Helen and her husband have four children, who immediately follow her 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 ...

: * Columbus George Donald Taylor (born 6 August 1994) * Cassius Edward Taylor (born 26 December 1996) * Eloise Olivia Katherine Taylor (born 2 March 2003) * Estella Olga Elizabeth Taylor (born 21 December 2004)

Charity work

She is a patron of the

CLIC Sargent Young Lives vs Cancer, the operating name for "CLIC Sargent", is a charity in the United Kingdom formed in 2005. Young Lives vs Cancer is the 12th largest cancer charity in the UK with a focus on children, young people and their families. Its c ...

children's cancer charity. She is a trustee of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. She is on the advisory board of the

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...

after being a trustee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Helen, Lady 1964 births Living people Businesspeople from Buckinghamshire Daughters of British dukes English people of Austrian descent English people of Danish descent English people of German descent English people of Greek descent English people of Russian descent Helen Taylor People educated at Gordonstoun People educated at Heathfield School, Ascot People educated at St Mary's School, Wantage People from Iver