The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British 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 (ma ...

Tania Rosamund Harcourt-Cooze (née Coleridge, born 22 January 1966) is an English model and actress.

Early life and education

The daughter of Major William Duke Coleridge, 5th

Baron Coleridge Baron Coleridge, of Ottery St Mary in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1874 for the prominent lawyer, judge and Liberal politician Sir John Coleridge. He served as Lord Chief Justice of En ...

Ottery St Mary Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery", is a town and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of Metcombe, Fair ...

, a Major in the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremoni ...

, and his first wife Everild Tania Hambrough, she is directly related to the poet

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lak ...

. The oldest of five children, by her father's first marriage she has a brother, James Duke Coleridge (born 1967) and a sister, Sophia Tamsin Coleridge (born 1970). Born in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, she followed her father's

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

career until her parents divorced in 1977 when she was 11. By his second marriage, she has two half-sisters, Vanessa Leyla Coleridge (born 1978) and Katharine Suzannah Coleridge (born 1981).

Career

Modelling

She completed an art history and drama degree at Fine Arts College in London. She joined the punk rock revolution, and would hang out on the

Kings Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...

. She was spotted by Sarah Doukas, who dispatched her in 1986 to model for

Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...

and

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as ...

in Italy, and she became a muse for

Helmut Newton Helmut Newton (born Helmut Neustädter; 31 October 192023 January 2004) was a German-Australian photographer. The ''The New York Times, New York Times'' described him as a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotic ...

. She starred opposite the singer

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV Generation, MTV generation and is one of the List ...

in the video for "

Father Figure A father figure is usually an older man, normally one with power, authority, or strength, with whom one can identify on a deeply psychological level and who generates emotions generally felt towards one's father. Despite the literal term "father f ...

", inspired by Newton. She also appeared in the music video of the

Kane Roberts Kane Roberts (born Robert William Athas; January 16, 1962) is an American heavy metal guitarist best known for his work with Alice Cooper. Additionally, he has performed as a solo act, and his cover of the unreleased Bon Jovi song "Does Anybody ...

song "

Twisted Twisted may refer to: Film and television * ''Twisted'' (1986 film), a horror film by Adam Holender starring Christian Slater * ''Twisted'' (1996 film), a modern retelling of ''Oliver Twist'' * ''Twisted'', a 2011 Singapore Chinese film directed ...

" and she was the “power drill girl” in

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

's " Poundcake" video in 1991.

Management

Returning to England in 2001, she took over the management of The Chanter's House, the family's ancestral home in March 2002. The couple set up

events management Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of small and/or large-scale personal or corporate events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, weddings, formal parties, concerts, or conventions. ...

company Kubla Khan, through which to organise weddings, fashion shoots, residential art courses, exhibitions, house tours and cultural gatherings based around the house. In October 2006 the increasing costs of maintaining the property caused the family

trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

to put the property up for sale and auction the contents.

Media

She came to public prominence again in 2008 with the airing of the

fly-on-the-wall Fly on the wall is a style of documentary-making used in film and television production. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them. In the purest form of fly-on-the-wall documentary-making, ...

documentary, ''

Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory ''Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory'' is a United Kingdom television documentary series broadcast on Channel 4 in March 2008. Filmed in "fly-on-the-wall" style, it shows the efforts of Willie Harcourt-Cooze to establish a brand of 100% cacao ch ...

'', centred on her husband's efforts to be one of the first Britons since the

Cadbury family The Cadbury family is a wealthy British family of Quaker industrialists descending from Richard Tapper Cadbury. * Richard Tapper Cadbury (1768–1860) draper and abolitionist, who financed his sons' start-up business ** John Cadbury (1801–1889) ...

to grow, import and produce their own chocolate.

Personal life

She married

Willie Harcourt-Cooze William George Harcourt-Cooze (born 29 April 1964), is a British-based chocolate maker and entrepreneur. He came to public prominence in 2008 with the airing of the Channel 4 fly-on-the-wall documentary, '' Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory,'' whi ...

, a Burmese-Irish man, in 1993 after meeting him in her late teens. Using the funds from the sale of his London flat and his family's money, the couple purchased a

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

farm, in the Venezuelan

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud ...

, ''

Hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchard ...

El Tesoro'' in the

Henri Pittier National Park Henri Pittier National Park is the oldest national park in Venezuela, originally created in 1937 under the name of ''Rancho Grande'' by decree of President Eleazar López Contreras. In 1953 the park was renamed in honor of Henri Pittier, a disting ...

, near

Choroni Beach Choroní is a popular place located in Aragua, Venezuela. Its proper name is Choroní, but because of its proximity to the colonial not official village of Choroní ( es), it is often referred to as Playa Grande or El Malecon. It lies about 50 ...

. , and planted more than 50,000

Criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish race-based colonial caste system (the European descendants) Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South Ameri ...

cocoa trees. She lives in

Tiverton, Devon Tiverton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Devon, England, and the commercial and administrative centre of the Mid Devon district. The population in 2019 was 20,587. History Early history The town's name is conjectured to derive from "Twy-fo ...

and has three children – Sophia, William and Eve In May 2010 she and her husband separated and they formalized a divorce in 2011.

References and footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harcourt-Cooze, Tania 1966 births Living people English people of Kenyan descent English female models Daughters of barons English film actresses

Tania Tania is usually a given name. It may refer to: Given name * Tânia Alves, Brazilian actress and singer * Tania Brishty, Bangladesh actress and model * Princess Tania de Bourbon Parme, French designer * Tania de Jong, Dutch-born Australian sopra ...