The engagement was announced 9 September, 2026, between Benjamin T. Goddard, younger son of Mr and Mrs Geoffrey Goddard, of Sewalds Hall, Essex, and the Hon Letitia Barbara D. Harris (born 2000), daughter of James Hugh Carleton Harris, styled Viscount FitzHarris (born 29 April, 1970), of Syndling Court, Dorset, and Viscountess FitzHarris (nee Jemima Nancy G. Fulford-Dobson (born 1968).
Letitia is a granddaughter of the 7th Earl of Malmesbury (born 19 June, 1946).
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Sarah Newton, wife of the Hon Toby Henry Storr Hodgson (born 1988), gave birth to a son, Albert Henry Newton, 25 August, 2026.
Toby is a son of life peer the Baron Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, CBE (born 25 April, 1942), and his wife the life peer Baroness Hodgson of Abinger, CBE (born 7 Nov, 1954).
Sarah is a daughter of Mr and Mrs Michael Newton of Melbourne, Australia.
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Anna-Carolina, Archduchess of Austria (born 11 June, 1996), wife of John (Jack) Straker Constable (born 23 October, 1990), scion of that landed gentry family, gave birth to a daughter, Emma, 10 July, 2026.
Jack Straker Constable is the elder son of the late James Andrew John Straker (1959-2022), and his wife the former Rodrica Consuelo Chichester-Constable (born 31 March, 1963), of Hexham, scion of that landed gentry family, of Burton Constable.
Anna-Carolina, Archduchess of Austria, is the eldest daughter of Eduard Karl Joseph Michael Marcus Antonius Koloman Volkhold Maria, Archduke of Austria ( born 12 January, 1967), and his wife the former Marie Theresa von Gudenus (born 11 February, 1967).
Jack Straker is heir to the Burton Constable Hall estate, a large Elizabethan country house, with 18th- and 19th-century interiors and a fine 18th-century cabinet of curiosities. The hall, a Grade I listed building, is set in a park designed by Capability Brown with an area of 300 acres. It is located 3 miles south-east of the village of Skirlaugh in the East Riding of Yorkshire, approximately 9 miles north-east of the city of Hull, and has been the home of the Constable family for over 400 years. The hall and park are owned by the Burton Constable Foundation, a registered charity.
From the London Gazette in July 2025: The KING has been graciously pleased by Warrant under His Royal Signet and Sign Manual bearing date 17 July 2025 to give and grant His Royal Licence and Authority that John Straker Constable formerly John Constable Straker of Burton Constable in the County of East Yorkshire and his issue may continue to bear and use the surname of Constable in lieu of and substitution for that of Straker and that he and they may bear and use the Arms and Crest of Constable according to the Laws of Arms the said Armorial Bearings being first duly exemplified according to the Laws of Arms and recorded in His Majesty’s College of Arms: otherwise the said Royal Licence and Permission to be void and of none effect.
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Elizabeth Louise Beaumont (nee Holland, born 1990), wife of Richard Christian Beaumont [born 27 May, 1989], scion of the Viscounts Allendale, gave birth to a son, Albert Leopold, 3 September, 2026, a brother for Theodore Holland, who was born 13 October, 2023.
Richard Beaumont is the second son of the Hon Hubert Wentworth Beaumont [born 13 Apr, 1956], of County Kildare, Ireland, and Katherine Emma [Kate] Beaumont [nee Abel Smith, born 11 March, 1961], of Nottinghamshire.
Elizabeth Beaumont is a daughter of Michael G. Holland, of Bramcote, Nottinghamshire, and his wife the former Margaret H. Osborne.
Richard Beaumont, a grandson of the late life peer the Baron Beaumont of Whitley [1928-2008] is also a descendant of Queen Victoria.
Queen Victoria [1819-1901] > Prince Leopold [1853-84] > Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone [1883-1981] > Lady May Abel Smith [1906-94] > Richard Abel Smith [1933-2004] > Kate Abel Smith [b 1961] > Richard Beaumont [b 1989] > Albert Beaumont (born 2026)
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The marriage took place at Chelsea Old Town Hall, 3 September, 2026, between Faris Michael McKinnon (born London, April, 1985), son of Australian businessman Michael William Francis McKinnon, and his Kuwaiti-born wife the former Fawzia H. Al Sayegh, and Isabel Getty (born 11 November, 1993), daughter of Christopher Ronald Getty and his wife the former Pia Christina Miller (born 1966), sister of Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece (born 17 September, 1968).
The couple have a son, Viggo, born in October, 2025.
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(John Julian) Timothy Jeal, who died 5 August, 2026, aged 81, was a Prize winning novelist who wrote celebrated biographies of Dr Livingstone, Henry Stanley and Robert Baden-Powell while working at the BBC. He was descended from the Pasley baronets.
Always known as Timothy, he was born 27 January, 1945, son of Clifford Freeman Jeal (1906-1986), and his wife the former Norah Margaret Sabine Pasley (1902-1987).
His grandfather was Sir Thomas Edward Sabine Pasley, 3rd Baronet (1863-1947), and his wife the Lady Constance Wilmot Annie Hastings (1870-1922), daughter of the 14th Earl of Huntingdon (1841-1885).
He married 11 October, 1969, Joyce Timewell (born 1945), daughter of William George Timewell (1916-1990), and his wife the former Dorothy May Carter, by whom he had three daughters, Jessica, Lucy and Emily.
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 |
| Hon Garrett Moore. |
Hope's father is a US investment billionaire, whose English estate is at Crichel Down, Dorset, including Crichel House, bought for £34 million in 2013.
Garrett Moore is a grandson maternally of the late Sir Nicholas Henderson, GCMG, KCVO [1919-2009], British Ambassador to Washington 1979-1982.
Moore had a previous controversial engagement in 2020 to the American actress Colleen Camp [born 7 June, 1953], a character actress and producer, the daughter of one Mr Wilson Camp. The actress was the same age at Garrett's own mother. No marriage followed.
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The 8th Earl of Wilton, who died at his home in Clifton Hill, Melbourne, Australia, 4 September, 2026, abed 92, was heir presumptive to his kinsman the Duke of Westminster's marquisate.
Francis Egerton Grosvenor was Baron Ebury of Ebury Manor, co. Middlesex [U.K., 1857] & Earl of Wilton of Wilton Castle, co. Hereford [U.K., 1801] & Viscount Grey de Wilton [U.K., 1801].
His ancestor, the 1st Baron Ebury (1801-1893), was a younger son of the 1st Marquess of Westminster (1767-1845), who was grandfather of the 1st Duke of Westminster (1825-1899). The current 7th Duke of Westminster (born 29 Jan, 1991) is father of a daughter, and the 8th Earl of Wilton is the heir to to the duke's subsidiary peerages.
He was born 8 February, 1934, the eldest son of 5th Baron Ebury (1914-1957), and his first wife the former Anne Acland-Troyte (1912-1982), scion of the Dyke Acland baronets.
He succeeded his father, 5 May, 1957, as 6th Baron Ebury, and succeeded his kinsman, 1 October, 1999, as 8th Earl of Wilton.
He married firstly, 10 December, 1957 (div. 1962), Gillian Elfrida Astley Soames, scion of that landed gentry family, daughter of Martin Roland Soames (1903-1995), and his wife the former Myra Drummond, scion of the Viscounts Strathallan; married 2ndly, 8 March, 1963 (div. 1973), Kyra Aslin, daughter of L.L. Aslin; and married 3rdly, 24 February, 1974, Suzanne Jean Suckling (1943-2018), daughter of Graham Suckling, of Christchurch, New Zealand. He married 4thly, 21 February, 2023, Joanna (Jo) Neilma Baevski (born 5 April, 1948), daughter of Kenneth Myer, of Melbourne. His fourth wife predeceased him, 16 April, 2026.
The Earl of Wilton leaves a son from his first marriage, Julian Francis Martin Grosvenor, styled Viscount Grey de Wilton (born 8 June, 1959), who now succeeds as 9th Earl of Wilton, and was predeceased by a daughter, Lady Georgina Lucy Grosvenor, who died 16 Aug, 2003.
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The engagement was announced 5 September, 2026, between Walter David Stewart-Brown (born 1989), scion of that landed gentry family, son of Ronald Reay Stewart-Brown (1948-2015), and his wife the former Juiet Rosamund Birch Reynardson (born 1952), scion of that landed gentry family, & Ning Zhang, daughter of Mr Zhang Guojun and the late Mrs Huang Xiaolian, of Shandong, China.
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The engagement was announced 5 September, 2026, between Jonathan George Standeven (born 1983), youngest son of John Denis Standeven, of Sinderby, North Yorkshire, and his wife the former Sarah Joanna Scott Cobb, & Violet Selina Peto (born 15 February, 1984), scion of the Peto baronets, third daughter of Jonathan Basil Moreton Peto (born 9 December, 1942), of Great Bealings, Suffolk, and his wife the Hon Selina Lilian Hughes-Young (born 13 March, 1944), daughter of the 1st Baron St Helens (1912-1980).
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Count Charles John Fane de Salis, who died 3 September, 2026, aged 96, was a scion of a landed gentry family descended from the Fane Earls of Westmorland.
He was born 25 January, 1930, the elder son of Major Count Anthony Denis Rodolph Fane de Salis (1897-1952), and his wife the former Francoise Carmen Dagmar de la Panouse (1903-1985), and married 23 July, 1960, Carolyn Mary Constable-Maxwell (born 23 August, 1938), scion of the Lords Herries of Terregles, and sister of Ann Duchess of Norfolk (1927-2013), wife of the 17th Duke of Norfolk, and daughter of Wing Commander Gerald Joseph Constable-Maxwell, MC, DFC, DL (1895-1959), and his wife the former Caroline Burns Carden (died 1984).
He leaves four daughters, Isobel (b 31 Aug, 1961), Frances (b 28 March, 1963), Julia (b 14 Jan 1968), and Theresa (b 14 Oct, 1970).
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Sir Archibald Bruce Charles Edmonstone of Duntreath, 7th Baronet, died 29 August, 2026. He was 92.
The baronet was seated at Duntreath Castle, Blanefield, Stirlingshire.
He was born 3 August, 1934, son of Sir Archibald Charles Edmonstone of Duntreath, 6th Baronet (1898-1954), and his wife the former Gwendolyn Mary Field (died 27 Nov, 1989), daughter of Marshall Field, Jr (1868-1905), of Chicago, Illinois.
He succeeded to the baronetcy (created GB 1774) upon his fathers death, 5 June, 1954.
He married firstly, 17 January, 1957 (div), Jane Colville (born 16 March, 1936), scion of the Viscounts Colville of Culross, daughter of Maj-Gen Edward Charles Colville, CB, DSO, JP (1905-1982), and his wife the former Barbara Joan Denny (died 1983); and married 2ndly, 24 June, 1969, Juliet Elizabeth Deakin (born 1 December, 1943), daughter of Maj-Gen. Cecil Martin Fothergill Deakin, CB, CBE (1910-1992), and his wife the former Evelyn Mary Frances Grant, scion of the Grant of Monymusk baronets.
From his first marriage he leaves two sons, (Archibald) Edward Charles Edmonstone Yr of Duntreath (born 4 Feb, 1961), and Nicholas (born 16 Apr, 1964), and a daughter, Philippa (born 12 June, 1958), and from his second marriage, a son, Dru (born 26 Oct, 1971), and a daughter, Elyssa Juliet (born 11 September, 1973), former wife of Archduke Sigismsund of Austria, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
His eldest son, Edward, succeeds to the baronetcy.
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Nigel Victor Charles Jackaman died 31 August, 2026. He was 87.
He was born in 1939, son of James Nigel Jackaman (1906-1997), and his wife the former Diana Savory (1913-2002), scion of the baronets of that name; and married 1969, Christina Beatrice (Christa) Scrope (1942-2012) scion of the Scropes of Danby, daughter of Simon Scrope (1910-1991), and his wife the former Constance Mary Weld (1907-1987), by whom he had issue, two sons, Mark and Richard, and a daughter, Claire, who predeceased her in 2014.
Nigel Jackaman was a grandson maternally of Sir William Savory, 3rd Baronet (1882-1961).
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John Charles Greenway Irvin, film-maker who directed the BBC’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and several Hollywood movies, died 11 August, 2026. He was 86.
He overcame Alec Guinness’s misgivings to guide him to a Bafta-winning performance as Smiley, and also made The Dogs of War and Champions.
He was born 7 May, 1940, son of Major C.W. Irvin, of Tynemouth, Northumberland, and his wife the former Elsie Bending, and married in 1970, Sophie Mary Cecilia Litchfield (born 8 December, 1942, died 1991), scion of that landed gentry family, daughter of Capt John Shirley Sandys Litchfield, OBE, RN (1903-1993), and his wife the former Margaret Cecilia Portal (1908-2006), scion of the Portal baronets, by whom he had a son, Luke (born 1973), and two daughters, Emilie (born 1970), and Amy (born 1978).
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The engagement was announced 5 September, 2026, between Basil Edward Fitzherbert (born 17 January, 1998), scion of the Barons Stafford, the ony son of the Hon Philip Basil Fitzherbert (born 7 October, 1962), of Swynnerton, Staffordshire, and his wife the former Caroline Hadcock (born 1965), & Katherina Cameron (Kitty) Zeal (born 11 June, 1998), elder daughter of Christopher John Zeal (born 1958), of Twyford, Berkshire, and his wife the former Lucy Violet Godsal (born 15 March, 1964), scion of that landed gentry family, descended from the 8th Earl of Courtown (1908-1975).
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The engagement was announced 4 September, 2026, between Thomas Michael Kerr-Dineen (born 1998), younger son of Michael N.C. Kerr-Dineen (born 1952), financier, of Chelsea, London, and his wife the former Jacqueline Graham, and Theodora Rachel Montague Gosden-Hood (born December, 1990), younger daughter of the horse trainer John Harry Martin Gosden, OBE (born 30 March, 1951), of Newmarket, by his wife Ms Rachel D.S, Hood (born 1953), descended from the Dukes of Devonshire.
The 4th Duke of Devonshire (1720-64) > George Cavendish, 1st Earl of Burlington (1754-1834) > Gen Hon Henry Cavendish (1789-1873) > Francis William Henry Cavendish (1820-93) > Reginald Richard Frederick Cavendish (1857-1941) > Dorothy Alice Georgina Cavendish (1891-1965) > Hilary Ollyet Dupuis Hood (1928-82) > Rachel Hood (b 1953) > Theodora Gosden-Hood
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Charlotte Louise Bates (née Roe, born 1992), wife of James Bates, gave birth to a daughter, Daphne Caroline, 17 August, 2026.
James Bates is a son of Paul Bates, of Great Helmsley, North Yorkshire, and his wife Lesley.
Charlotte is a daughter of Alexander Frederick James Roe (born Nov, 1958), and his wife the former Caroline Jane Maltby (1957-2021), scion of that landed gentry family, daughter of John Newcombe Maltby, CBE (1928-1998), and his wife the Lady Sylvia Veronica Anthea Harris (1934-2022), daughter of the 6th Earl of Malmesbury (1907-2000).
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The engagement was announced 3 September, 2026, between Capt Henry James T. Winstanley (born 1992), only son of Colonel Richard D. Winstanley (born 1964), of Middle Woodford, Wiltshire, and his wife the former Caroline Grey-Edwards (born 1964), and Antonia Grace W. Wyatt (born 1993), daughter of the late Robert Wyatt and Mrs Pamela Wyatt, of Aston-by-Stone, Staffordshire.
Capt Henry Winstanley is a grandson of Christopher R.L. Grey-Edwards (b 1933), and his wife the former Jane Frances Mary Fitzgerald-Lombard (1936-2022), scion of that landed gentry family.
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The engagement was announced 3 September, 2026, between James Patrick M. (Jamie) Miesegaes (born 28 August, 2001), the only son of Simon Victor James Miesegaes (born April, 1964), of Honington, Warwickshire, and his wife the former Lucinda Claire Bourdillon (born 1968), & Polly Davison Barker (born 1999), younger daughter of Mr & Mrs James Barker, of Osmotherley, North Yorkshire.
Jamie Miesegaes is descended from the Kemp-Welch and Stormonth-Darling landed gentry families.
Patrick Stormonth-Darling (1840-1916) > Margaret Stormonth-Darling (1884-1962) > Peggy Hunter (1912-2005) > Penelope Kemp-Welch > Lucinda Bourdillon (b 1968) > James Miesegaes (b 2001)
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Iona Ann Mariel Devereux (née McLaren, born 20 February, 1991), wife of the Hon Edward Mark de Breteuil Devereux, KC (born 8 June, 1977), scion of the Viscounts Hereford, gave birth to a daughter, Christabel Susan Caroline, 19 August, 2026.
Edward Devereux is the second son of the 18th Viscount Hereford (1932-2004), and his wife the former Susan Mary Godley, & is a younger brother of the 19th Viscount (born 11 Aug, 1975).
Edward was called to the Bar in 2001 and became a QC (now known as KC) in 2017. Over the course of his career as a barrister, he has represented parties (including as leading counsel for the U.K. government) before the U.K. Supreme Court, the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.
He has been variously described by the Chambers UK Guide to the Legal Profession as “a Titan”, “a phenomenal advocate” and “a master of strategy”. He was an author and editor of Dicey, Morris and Collins on the Conflict of Laws. Edward read history at Cambridge University.
Iona Devereux is a scion of the Barons Aberconway, daughter of the Hon Michael Duncan McLaren (born 29 November, 1958), and his wife the former Caroline Jane Stacey, and a granddaughter of the 3rd Baron Aberconway (1913-2003).
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Mark Chaytor Dickinson died 25 August, 2026. He was 75, and descended from the Chaytor baronets.
He was born 17 May, 1951, son of Peter Dickinson and his wife the former Anne Chaytor (1919-2002), daughter of Sir Edmund Hugh Chaytor, 6th Baronet (1876-1935).
He married firstly, in 1978 (Div. 1992), Amanda Evelyn Fraser (born 1956, later the Hon Mrs Timothy Buxton), daughter of Air Commodore Anthony Walkinshaw Fraser, and his wife the former Angela Mary Graham Shaw (1936-2018), descended from the 1st Viscount Dunedin.
Mark Dickinson married 2ndly, October, 1992, Caroline Mary Palmer (born 16 December, 1952), former wife of Major Hon Richard Nicholas Bethell (born 29 May, 1950, afterwards the 6th Baron Westbury), and daughter of Richard John Palmer (1926-2008), and his wife the Hon Sarah Faith Georgiana Spencer (1931-2015), daughter of the 1st Viscount Churchill (1864-1934).
He leaves issue from his first marriage, a son Maximilian (b 1981), and two daughters, Olivia (b 1983), and Georgia (b 1987).
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The engagement was announced 29 August, 2026, between Luke Michael P. Barden de Lacroix (born 1989), the elder son of Philip Geoffrey Barden (born 2 November, 1959), & his wife Fabienne I.M. Leguen de Lacroix (born 5 August, 1960), of Weybridge, Surrey, and Dr Georgina Ann Keogh (born 10 August, 1990), younger daughter of Colin Denis Keogh, and his wife the former Joanna Mary Martyn Leapman (born 1953), daughter of John Frederick Martyn Leapman (1916-2000), and his wife the former Hon (Anne) Cynthia Veronica Tempest Plumer (1921-2004), daughter of the 2nd and last Viscount Plumer, MC (1890-1944).
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Rear-Admiral Sir John Garnier, KCVO, CBE, died 31 July, 2026. A descendant of the Barons Vernon. He was 92.
He served as Naval Equerry to the Queen between 1962 and 1965, Director of Naval Operations and Trade between 1982 and 1984, Flag Officer, Royal Yachts, between 1985 and 1990, and as Private Secretary and Comptroller to Princess Alexandra, the Hon Lady Ogilvy between 1991 and 1995. He was an Extra Equerry to HM Queen Elizabeth II from 1988.
Garnier was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1982 and a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1990 (having previously been appointed a Lieutenant in 1965).
He was born 10 March, 1934, son of the Rev Thomas Vernon Garnier, OBE (1875-1939) and his wife the former Helen Stenhouse, and a grandson of the Rev Thomas Parry Garnier (1841-1898), and his wife the Hon Louisa Warren Venables-Vernon (died 1894), daughter of the 5th Baron Vernon (1803-1866).
He married in 1966, Joanna Jane Cadbury (born 1943), scion of the landed chocolate manufacturing family, daughter of Alan Cadbury (1907-1994), by his wife the former Janet Mary Margaret Walker (1909-2001), by whom he had two sons, Thomas and William, and a daughter, Louisa.
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Lucy C. Matterson (née Williams), wife of Thomas John Hardwick Matterson [born 1991], descended from the Child baronets, gave birth to a son, Ivo Charles Roger, 2 July, 2026, a brother for their twins Rafferty John Woolhouse & Rex Edward Hardwick, who were born 4 March 2024.
Thomas is a son of Charles John Hardwick Matterson [born 26 December, 1960], of Polstead, Suffolk, and his wife the former Elizabeth Caroline McGregor Moffatt [born 1962].
Lucy is a daughter of Mr & Mrs Brian Williams, of Putney, London.
Sir Coles John Child, 2nd Baronet [1906-71] > Honor Diana Child [b 1936] > Charles Matterson [b 1960] > Thomas Matterson [born 1991] > Ivo Matterson [born 2026].
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In August 2026, the King was admitted to hospital with fluid retention caused by cortisone treatment for haemolytic anaemia and was placed on two weeks' sick leave. His son and heir Crown Prince Haakon served as regent during his absence.
He was King of Norway for 35 years, and from 9 September, 2024, he was the oldest monarch in more than 1,150 years of Norwegian monarchy, living longer than his father King Olav V, who died at 87 years and 199 days. Following the death of his cousin Queen Elizabeth II, 8 September, 2022, King Harald became Europe's oldest hereditary reigning monarch.
A Descendant of King Edward VII, he was therefor connected by blood to all the Europe and Scandinavian monarchs. King Harald was first cousin once removed of Philippe, King of the Belgians, and likewise of Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and a second cousin once removed of King Charles III, likewise of Frederik X, King of Denmark, and Carl XVI Gustaf King of Sweden, and a third cousin twice removed of Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands. He was a third cousin once removed of Felipe VI, King of Spain. He was a seventh cousin of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and a fourth cousin once removed of Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein.
He was born at Skaugum, 21 February, 1937, the third child but only son of the then Crown Prince Olav of Norway, KG, KT, GCB, GCVO (born at Sandringham, 2 July, 1903, as Prince Alexander Edward Christian Frederik of Denmark), and his wife Princess Martha Sofia Louisa Dagmar Thyra of Sweden (born Stockholm, 28 March, 1901, died at Oslo, 5 April, 1954).
In 1905 Norway became independent for the first time in five centuries, having during that time either being tied to Sweden or Denmark. There was the question whether the new independent country should be a monarchy or a republic. Under the influence of the German Emperor Wilhlem II, a royal but democratic constitution was agreed upon, and King Harald's grandfather, a Danish prince, was selected as King. His ascension to the Norwegian throne was confirmed by a plebiscite, in which the majority in favour of monarchy was nearly four to one.
His paternal grandfather, HRH Prince Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel of Denmark (born at Charlottenlund, 3 August, 1872), was elected King of Norway, 18 November, 1905, when Norway's union with Sweden was dissolved. Prince Christian became Haakon VII, King of Norway, and reigned until his death at Oslo, 21 September, 1957. The then Prince Christian married in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace, 22 July, 1896, HRH The Princess Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria of Wales, VA, CI, GCVO, GCStJ (born at Marlborough House, London, 26 November, 1869, died in London, 20 November, 1938), youngest daughter of the then Prince of Wales [later King Edward VII] and Queen Alexandra.
Young Harald studied for periods at the University of Oslo, the Norwegian Military Academy, and Balliol College, Oxford. A keen sportsman, Harald represented Norway in sailing at the 1964, 1968, and 1972 Olympic Games, and later became patron of World Sailing.
Harald became Crown Prince of Norway upon his grandfather's demise, 21 September, 1957. His father reigned as Olav V, King of Norway.
Harald was appointed GCVO by his cousin Queen Elizabeth II in 1955, and received the Royal Victorian Chain in 1994. He became the 990th Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in 2001.
He married at Oslo, 29 August, 1968, Sonja Haraldsen (born Oslo, 4 July, 1937), daughter of Carl August Haraldsen, by his wife the former Dagny Ulrichsen, by whom he had issue, a son, Crown Prince Haakon Magnus (born at Oslo, 20 July, 1973), who now succeeds to the throne, and a daughter, Princess Martha Louise (born at Oslo, 22 September, 1971).
Crown Prince Harald succeeded to the Norwegian throne on the death of his father, 17 January, 1991.
In the British Army, King Harald was appointed an honorary general in 1994, and he was the final Colonel-in-Chief of the Green Howards. He is also an honorary Colonel in the British Royal Marines. He was patron of the Anglo-Norse Society in London, formerly together with Queen Elizabeth II, his second cousin. Harald was in the line of succession to the British throne, because of his descent from great-grandfather, King Edward VII.
The Earl of Cranbrook, the 5th Earl, distinguished zoologist, naturalist and conservationist, died at his home in Suffolk, 24 August, 2026. He was 93.
Lord Cranbrook dedicated his life to studying and protecting the biodiversity of Malaysia and Southeast Asia, began his scientific fieldwork in the region as an assistant at the Sarawak Museum in the late 1950s.
He was Viscount Cranbrook (cr 1878), Baron Medway (cr 1892), and Earl of Cranbrook (cr 1892). He was known by the courtesy title Baron Medway from his birth until inheriting the family honours in 1978.
His home was Great Glemham House, Saxmundham, Suffolk.
He was Chairman, Institute for European Environmental Policy [1990], Chairman International Trusr for Zoological Nomenclature [2001], Assistant, Sarawak Museum 1956-58, Fellow Yayasan Siswa Lokantra [Indonesia] 1960-61; Assistant Lecturer in Zoology, University of Malaya, 1961-70; Editor of Ibis, 1973-80; Member, House of Lords Select Committee on EC then EU 1979-99; Chairman Environmental Public Health and Consumer Protection Sub Committee 1998-99; Board Member, Anglian Water Authority 1987-89; non executive director of Anglian Water 1989-98; Chairman, English Nature 1990-1998; Member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, 1981-1992; NERC 1982-88; &c; Freeman of the City of London; Deputy Lieutenant for Suffolk.
He published numerous works of a zoological, environmental nature. In recognition of his immense contributions to Malaysia he was conferred the Panglima Negara Bintang Sarawak, which carries the title Dato Sri in 2005.
Lord Cranbrook dedicated his life to studying and protecting the biodiversity of Malaysia and Southeast Asia, began his scientific fieldwork in the region as an assistant at the Sarawak Museum in the late 1950s.
Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy was born 20 June, 1933, elder son of the 4th Earl of Cranbrook, CBE, DL, JP (1900-1978), and his wife the former Fidelity Seebohm, OBE (1912-2009), and succeeded to his father's peerages, 22 November, 1978.
He married 9 May, 1967, Caroline Jarvis (born 18 December, 1935), the only daughter of Colonel Ralph Jarvis, DL, of Doddington Hall, Lincoln, and his wife the former Antonia Mary Hilda Meade, scion of the Earls of Clanwilliam, by whom he had issue, two sons, John Jason, styled Baron Medway (born 26 October, 1968), who now succeeds as 6th Earl, and the Hon Angus Edward Gathorne-Hardy (born 28 May, 1973), and one daughter, Dr Lady Flora Gathorne-Hardy (born 10 Oct, 1971).
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Kate Anne Shenkman [née Winser, born 1987], wife of Maximilian Ivan Michael Shenkman [born 1982], gave birth to a son, Rafe, Alexander Philip, 10 August, 2026, a brother for Minnie Merry Melissa, who was born 27 February, 2020, and for Kit Ivan, born in 2022.
Max Shenkman is a son of Ivan Alexander Shenkman, by his wife the former Susan Mary Watt [born 1952], a granddaughter maternally of the 1st Viscount Mackintosh of Halifax [1891-1964].
Kate Shenkman is a daughter of Nigel de Northop Winser by his wife the former Shane Wesley-Smith [born 1955], descended from the Barons Remnant.
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Giles Bryan Chichester, who died 12 August, 2026, aged 80, was a scion of the Chichester baronets.
He was a Conservative Party politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South West England and Gibraltar from 1999 until he retired 2014. He was elected as Vice-President of the European Parliament on 6 July 2011.
He was MEP for Devon and East Plymouth from 1994 to 1999 and represented South West England in the European Parliament from 1999 until 2014. On 23 July 2004 he was elected chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. He was a former chairman of the Carlton Club Political Committee and is chairman of his family business publishing maps.
He was born 29 July, 1946, the son of Sir Francis Charles Chichester, KBE (1901-1972), the pioneering aviator and solo sailor, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for becoming the first person to sail single-handed around the world by the clipper route and the fastest circumnavigator, in nine months and one day overall in 1966–67.
Giles's mother was the former Sheila Mary Craven, who died in 1989.
He married 8 September, 1979, Virginia Ansell (born 1946), daughter of Edwin Arthur Ansell (1905-1972), of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, by his wife the former Gladys Heather Pearce (1921-2016), by whom he had two sons, George (born 19 May, 1981), Charles (born 13 Dec, 1990), and a daughter, Jessica (born 15 February, 1984).
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Timothy John Peter Emerson died 17 August, 2026. He was 84.
He was born in 1942, son of Colonel John Emerson, OBE, TD (1912-2003), of Yelverton, Devon, and his wife the former Rosemary Steeds White (1918-1992); and married at Tavistock, 9 June, 1984, Susanna Jane Rashleigh (born 19 April, 1955), eldest daughter of Sir Harry Evelyn Battie Rashleigh, 5th Baronet (1923-1984), and his wife the former Honora Elizabeth Sneyd (1931-1987), scion of that landed gentry family, by whom he had issue, a son, Thomas Alexander (born 2 September, 1987), and a daughter, Charlotte Jane (born 9 June, 1985).
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Jeremy John Chantler Bradbeer, died 15 August, 2026.
He was born in Northumberland in 1962, son of Sir (John) Derek Richardson Bradbeer, OBE, TD (1931-2016), and his wife the former Margaret Elizabeth Chantler (born 1938); and married 18 May, 1996, Serena Clare Elwes (born 13 August,1967), scion of that landed gentry family of Congham, daughter of Nigel Robert Elwes (1941-2021), and his wife the former Carolyn Peta McAlpine (born 1944), by whom he had a son, Charles Julian Chantler Bradbeer (born 2 Aug, 1997), and a daughter, Eliza Jennifer (born 29 May, 1999).
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Charles Justin Campbell died 16 August, 2026. He was descended from the Abercromby baronets.
His interesting death notice in the Daily Telegraph read: "Campbell: Charles Justin, died gratefully on 16th August with his two sons and a couple of diminutive witches by his bedside. Son of Sir Ralph and Joan, loving husband of more than 50 years to Ann Sophia. Born in Baghdad, 14 different schools, Bahamian policeman, art gallery owner, property guru, grass court legend and lover of bonfires. Adored by his whole family and many friends far and wide. Never better. Never better."
He was a son of Sir Ralph Abercromby Campbell, Kt (1906-1989), Chief Justice of the Bahamas, by his first wife the former Joan Childers Blake.
Charles was a great-great-grandson of Sir Robert Abercromby, 5th Baronet (1784-1855).
Sir Robert Abercromby, 5th Bt > David James Abercromby > Elsie Douglas Abercromby > Sir Ralph Abercromby Campbell > Charles Campbell (d 2026)
He was married to Ann Sophia _____, by whom he had issue.
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Verena Elpseth Crawley Bowyer [born 1992, née Smith], wife of Robert J. Bowyer, and scion of the Woollcombe landed gentry family, gave birth to a son, Horatio Ewen Jack, 5 May, 2026, a brother for Angus Peregrine Oliver, who was born 16 May, 2022, and for Clementine Winifred Mary, born 12 September, 2024.
Robert Bowyer is a son of Mr & Mrs Jonathan Bowyer, of Coniston, Cumbria.
Verena Smith is the eldest daughter of Oliver Geoffrey Woollcombe Smith [born 12 August, 1947], of Healaugh, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, scion of the Samuel Smith brewing family, by his wife the former Priscilla Mary Elspeth Crawley [born 1959].
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The engagement was announced 22 August, 2026, between Patrick Belisarius Robert Pike (born 1st January, 1996), second son of Robin Pike, of London, and his wife the former Hon Georgiana Mary Grimston (born 7 September, 1961), & Suzanne Brown, younger daughter of Nicholas and Nancee Brown, of London.
Patrick Pike is a grandson maternally of the 2nd Baron Grimston of Westbury (1925-2003)/
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Flora Susan Andrena Manning (nee Spens, born 7 January, 1989), wife of James E. Manning, gave birth to a son, Frederick Sasha (Freddie), 13 August, 2026.
James Manning is a son of Mr Michael Manning and Mrs Angela Manning.
Flora is a daughter of the late Michael Patrick Spens of Wormiston (1939-2014), scion of that Scottish landed family, and his 2nd wife Dr Janet Margaret Mackenzie (born 1956).
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The engagement was announced 22 August, 2026, between Harry Argentine A. Dixon-Smith (born 18 Apr, 1996), third son of the Hon Adam William George Dixon-Smith (born 1962), of Groton, Suffolk, and his wife the former Annabel Hogg, & Emily C. Stewart, only daughter of Mr and Mrs David Stewart of Blairdrummond, Stirlingshire.
Harry is a grandson of the life peer the Baron Dixon-Smith (born 30 September, 1934).
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Baroness Dixon-Smith, who died 16 August, 2026, aged 89, was the wife of the life peer the Baron Dixon-Smith.
The former Georgina Janet Cook, daughter of George Cook, of Halstead, Essex, married in 1960, Robert William Dixon-Smith (born 30 September, 1934), who was later a Shadow Minister at the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Bill Dixon-Smith was Governor of the Writtle Agricultural College, from 1973 to 1985 chair. In 1993 and 1994, he was Chair of Anglia Polytechnic University governors, governor from 1973 to 2000 of what was originally Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology (now Anglia Ruskin University). He was elected to the Essex County Council in 1965, being vice chairman from 1983 to 1986, and chairman from 1986 to 1989 before losing his seat to Labour in 1993. He was briefly Shadow Minister for Environment. In 1994, he was made an Honorary Doctor at Anglia Ruskin University. He was raised to the peerage for life, 11 Oct, 1993, as Baron Dixon-Smith, of Bocking in the County of Essex.
Baroness Dixon-Smith leaves issue, a son, Adam, and a daughter, Sarah.
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The engagement was announced 22 August, 2026, between Jack Augustus Thomas Pike (born 18 February, 1994), eldest son of Robin Pike, of London, and his wife the former Hon Georgiana Mary Grimston (born 7 September, 1961), and Harriet Patricia Cave (born 9 September, 1995), the elder daughter of Nicholas Stephen Cave (born 22 April, 1961), of Ottery St Mary, Devon, and his wife the former Alexandra Frances Elizabeth Hicks (born 1961).
Jack Pike is a grandson maternally of the 2nd Baron Grimston of Westbury (1925-2003), and the bride-to-be is a great-granddaughter of Sir Charles Cave, 4th Baronet (1927-1997).
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Alice Mary Ella Newton (born 22 February, 1996, nee Pickthorn), wife of Ben H. Newton, gave birth to a son, Edward Thomas Raphael, 10 August, 2026.
Ben is the eldest son of Mr Keith Newton and the late Mrs Leyanne Provera, of Sydney, Australia.
Alice Newton, a scion of the Pickthorn baronets, is the eldest daughter of Thomas David Alexander Pickthorn (born 16 July, 1967), of Cambridge, and his wife the former Nicola Sheerin.
Sir Kenneth Pickthorn, 1st Baronet (1892-1975) > Henry Pickthorn (b 1928) > Thomas Pickthorn (b 1967) > Alice Pickthorn (b 1996) > Edward Newton (b 2026)
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Roger Gambier Jenyns, who died 10 August, 2026, aged 84, was head of that landed gentry family, of Bottisham Hall, Cambridge.
He was born 16 February, 1942, elder son of Roger Soame Jenyns (1904-1976), Lord of the Manor of Bottisham, and his wife the former Anne Thomson Berridge (1906-1995), scion of that Irish landed gentry family; and married 1973, Jillian Maltby (born 1942), daughter of Colonel Edward Frank Maltby (1904-1981), of Potterspury, Northamptonshire, and his wife the former Hazel Doris Evans (1905-1990), by whom he had issue, a son [Roger] George E. Jenyns, who succeeds as head of the landed gentry family, and two daughters, Sarah and Frances.
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Thomas Richard Chadbon, the actor, died 18 July, 2026. He was 80.
Chadbon was a versatile character actor with a strong, resonant voice, familiar to viewers in dozens of classic television shows, including The Bill, Holby City, Taggart, Softly, Softly, Silent Witness, Father Brown, Heartbeat, Foyle’s War, and Midsomer Murders, &c.
He was born 27 February, 1946, the son of Thomas William Chadbon and his wife the former Josie Cook.
He married in 1966 (div 1970), as her first husband, the Hon Deborah Elspeth Leathers (born 23 Oct, 1947), the second daughter of the 2nd Viscount Leathers (1908-1996), and his wife the former Elspeth Graeme Stewart (who died in 1985), by whom he had issue, two sons, Dominic (born 8 Dec, 1966), and Nicholas (born 30 Sept, 1968).
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Sir William Otho Jaffray, 5th Baronet, died 11 August, 2026. He was 74.
He was born 1 November, 1951, son of Colonel Sir William Jaffray, 4th Baronet (1895-1953), and his second wife the former Anne Paget (1919-2021), scion of that landed gentry family, and succeeded to the baronetcy [UK, 1892], on his father's death, 24 October, 1953.
The Jaffrays were originally from Stirling, Scotland. John Jaffray moved to Birmingham and was involved in almost every aspect of Birmingham life – the Liberal party, hospitals, institutes, libraries, the Birmingham Joint Stock Bank and the founding of the Birmingham Daily Post and the Birmingham Daily Mail. He was created a Baronet in 1892. Sir William’s father, Sir John’s grandson, had been an outstanding sportsman and a keen rider to hounds in North Warwickshire, despite having lost an arm in the First World War. He died in 1953, so William Jaffray succeeded shortly before his second birthday.
He was married three times: 1stly, 9 May, 1981 (div 1997), Cynthia Ross Corrington, daughter of John Corrington III, of Montreal; 2ndly, 2009 (div. 2018), Constance Haynes daughter of John Latshaw, & Mrs Barbara Schreck; and thirdly, 20 May, 2026, at Chelsea Westminster Hospital, to Miss Gowri Siva.
Sir William has issue from his first marriage, three sons, Nicholas (born 18 October, 1982), who now succeeds as 6th baronet, Jack (born 3 Aug, 1987), and William (born 5 May, 1990), and a daughter, Alexandra (born 18 May, 1984).
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Sarah Louise Bradford Robinson, who died 14 August, 2026, aged 76, was descended from the McClintock baronets.
She was born 11 June, 1950, daughter of Major Robert Bradford Myles (1916-1981), and his wife the former Mary Lyons McClintock (1912-2001), scion of the McClintock baronets; and married 1982, Michael James Corbett Robinson (born 1950), by whom she had issue, a son, Jonathon Myles (1986-2009), and a daughter, Cara (born 1984).
Her only son died in an accident at a Swiss ski resort in 2009.
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Peter Allfrey, who died 13 August, 2026, aged 93, was a scion of that landed gentry family of Wokefield Park.
He was born 24 September, 1932, the second son of Capt Basil Holmsdale Allfrey (1898-1981), and his 1st wife the former Adeline Elizabeth Daphne Fox (1906-2005), daughter of Sir Gilbert Wheaton Fox, 1st Baronet (1863-1925); and married 27 April 1962, Susannah Gabrielle Ormerod (born 16 November, 1942), daughter of Capt George Wareing Drewry Ormerod, RA (1910-1944), scion of that landed gentry family, and his wife the former Madeleine Gabriele de Pury (who married 2ndly, 17 Aug, 1946, as his 2nd wife, the 19th Earl of Caithness (1906-1965).
Peter Allfrey leaves issue, two sons, Richard (born 1963), and Alexander (born 1965), and a daughter, Candida (born 1970).
His widow is a half-sister of the 20th Earl of Caithness, PC.
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The engagement was announced 18 August, 2026, between Edward James Christopher Treadwell )born 1 July, 1991), son of John Treadwell, of Putney, London, and his wife the former Anne Margaret Simonds (born 18 February, 1958), & Annie Florence Wilson (born 1995), daughter of Patrick Antony Joseph (Paddy) Wilson (born 1960), of Norwich, Norfolk, and his wife the former Sally Joanne Butt (born 1961).
Edward Treadwell is descended from the Mann baronets:-
Sir Edward Mann, 1st Baronet > Francis Thomas Mann > Margaret Enid Mann > Anne Margaret Simonds > Edward Treadwell
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Richard Gervase Falkiner, who died 21 July, 2026, aged 90, was a scion of the Falkiner baronets.
He was born 10 March, 1936, son of Major Gervase Leslie Falkiner (1909-1988), and his wife the former Rosemary Florence Emily Smith (1908-1990); and married 15 May, 1959, Gabrielle Mary Woodgate (born 1938), daughter of Frank Edward Woodgate (1906-1979), and his wife Eileen Mary Chapman (1910-1992), by whom he had issue, a son, Sebastian (born 3 Dec, 1963), and a daughter, Sophia (born 27 January, 1962).
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Barbara Winifred Gosling, who died in April 2026, was a scion of the Earls of Eglinton & Winton.
She was born in 1933, the fourth daughter of John Eglinton Montgomerie (1899-1971), and his wife the former Irene Agnes Cameron (who. died 1959).
She married 1954 (div. 1978), David Walter Gosling, by whom she had issue, two sons and a daughter.
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Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie, Mrs Jack Brooksbank, and her husband Jack Christopher Stamp Brooksbank, have named their infant daughter, Adelaide Elizabeth Annina, who was born in Lisbon, Portugal, 3 August, 2026.
Adelaide is the third child for the princess, 36, and husband Jack Brooksbank, 40, and a fifth grandchild for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson.
The infant is fifteenth in line of succession to the throne, and the first member of the royal family to have been born in Portugal.
Adelaide is an ancestral niece of King William IV’s Queen Consort - Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, who was born August 13, 1792.
Adelaide was a middle name of Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter Victoria the Princess Royal, and the infant is a direct descendant of Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge (1833-97), who was the mother of Queen Mary (1867-1953), and grandmother of King George VI (1895-1952).
The infant’s middle name Elizabeth is in honour of Princess Eugenie’s beloved grandmother, the late Queen.
Annina is a feminine name of Italian origin. An adorable version of Anna, it comes from the Hebrew names Ann and Hannah, translating to “He (God) has favored me,” as well as “grace” or “gracious.” This can be a great choice to help you share your faith with your little one. If you’ve got a love for music, you can also find Annina as a character in the opera La traviata. Whether baby prefers to enjoy the show or be the one on stage, the name Annina is a choice that can sing volumes for them.
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank married at St George's Chapel, Windsor, 12 October, 2018.
The infant's father, Jack Christopher Stamp Brooksbank (born 3 May, 1986), is a scion of the Brooksbank baronets of Healaugh, Tadcaster, the elder son of the late Mr George Edward Hugh Brooksbank (1949-2021), by his wife the former Nicola J Newton (b 1953).
HRH Princess Eugenie Victoria Helena of York (b 23 March, 1990), is the younger daughter of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (born 19 February, 1960), by his former wife Sarah Margaret Ferguson [born 15 Oct, 1959], scion of the Ferguson landed gentry family, of Dummer, Hampshire.
Order of Succession to the Throne:
1.HRH The Prince of Wales
2. HRH Prince George of Wales
3. HRH Princess Charlotte of Wales
4. HRH Prince Louis of Wales
5. HRH The Duke of Sussex
6. Prince Archie of Sussex
7. Princess Lilibet of Sussex
8. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
9. HRH Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
10. Sienna Mapelli Mozzi
11. Athena Mapelli Mozzi
12.. HRH Princess Eugenie Mrs Jack Brooksbank
13. August Brooksbank
14, Ernest Brooksbank
15. Adelaide Brooksbank
16. HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
17. James, Earl of Wessex
18. Lady Louise Windsor
19. HRH The Princess Royal
20. Peter Phillips
The engagement has been announced between Capt (David) Samuel G. Stevens and the Lady Celeste Primrose.
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| Sam Kwame and Lady Celeste. |
Lady Celeste is fourth of Lord Rosebery's five children, and a triplet with her sisters Lady Delphi Primrose and Lady Lavinia Primrose. She has an older sister, Lady Marina, and a younger brother, Albert, styled Lord Dalmeny, heir to the Rosebery peerages.
At thepeerage.com one of the triplets, Lavinia, is now shown as the Hon Ptolmey Fydor Rex (Tolly) Primrose, a male.
Sam Stevens (born 1997) is a son of the late Mr David G. Stevens and Mrs Zazi B. Stevens (nee Aikins, born London, 1961), of Chorleywood Hertfordshire.
Sam's parents married in Westminster in August, 1986.
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Philippa Egerton-Warburton (née Wyndham Jones), wife of Piers Egerton-Warburton (born 1992), scion of that landed gentry family, gave birth to a son, Arto Piers Wyndham, 3 August, 2026.
Piers is a son of Charles Piers Egerton-Warburton (born 9 Nov, 1961), and his first wife the former Fiona Clare Bonham Carter (born 1957), scion of that landed family.
Philippa Egerton-Warburton is a daughter of Mr and Mrs David Wyndham Jones.
Arto's descends from the Barons Dormer:-
14th Baron Dormer (1864-1922) > Hon Georgiana Dormer (1906-1955) > Maj Peter Egerton-Warburton (b 1933) > Charles Egerton-Warburton (b 1961) > Piers Egerton-Warburton (b 1992) > Arto Egerton-Warburton
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Freddie Coreth is a grandson paternally of Count Maurice Botho Rudolf Maria Coreth zu Coredo und Starkenberg (1929-1997), and his wife the former Jenny Mary Gloria Elwes (1930-2014), scion of that landed gentry family, of Roxby.
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Sir John Robert Chartres Seale, 6th Baronet, died 29 July, 2026. He was 71.
He was born 17 August, 1954, son of Sir John Henry Seale, 5th Baronet (1921-2017), and his wife the former Ray Josephine Chartres (1925-2009); and succeeded to the baronetcy (cr UK, 1838), on his father's death, 26 January, 2017.
He married 8 September, 1996, Michelle Taylor, daughter of Kevan Taylor, of Mattishall, Norfolk, by whom he had issue, twin sons, Christopher and Joshua. The elder son, Christopher Charles Seale (born 16 March, 2002), succeeds as 7th baronet.
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 |
| Laura Godfrey-Faussett. |
Laura Godfrey-Faussett is a granddaughter of the late 17th Earl of Strathmore & Kinghorne (1928-1987), and a second cousin once removed of His Majesty King Charles III.
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 |
| Jill Gomez. |
She was Jill Gomez, the opera singer, a soprano who went 'topless for Tippett' and played the scandalous Duchess of Argyll.
She was thought to be the first opera star to go topless on the stage of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, or at least the first to do so in front of a paying audience.
Jill Gomez was born in New Amsterdam, British Guiana, 21 September, 1942. She was the elder of two daughters of Albert Gomez, a sugar technologist and “Spanish version of Clark Gable”, and his wife Denise, née Denham (born 1917), a gifted actress and musician who had left her native Cheshire during the Second World War to join the imperial censorship operation, checking mail from troops stationed in the Caribbean.
Jill Gomez married in 2010, her long-time partner Patrick Carnegy, the 15th Earl of Northesk (born 23 September, 1940), a music and theatre critic and the author of Wagner and the Art of Theatre (2006).
Lord Northesk, who succeeded to the peerage, 28 March, 2010, is the son of the Rev. Canon Patrick Charles Alexander Carnegy (1893-1969), and his wife the former Joyce Eleanor Townsley (who died 1995).
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The engagement was announced 15 August, 2026, between Thomas More Eyston (born 5 September, 1999), scion of that landed gentry family, son of Edward Thomas Ivor Eyston (born 1 April, 1969), of East Hendred, Oxfordshire, and his wife the former Alexandra Louise Grounds, & Tandia L. Jack, eldest daughter of Guy Jack (born 1967), of Nairobi, and Mrs Jack.
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Sarah Elizabeth Greenly [née Hatchard, born 1988], wife of Sam James Howorth Greenly [born 1988], scion of that landed gentry family, gave birth to a daughter, Matilda Skye Elizabeth, 16 April, 2026, a sister for Rafe Merlin Howorth, born 22 March, 2021, and for Max Otis Howorth, born 10 October, 2022.
Sam Greenly is a son of Richard Anthony Howorth Greenly [born 1948], by his wife the former Belinda Audrey Lockett.
Sarah Greenly is a daughter of John Rayner Hatchard [born 1953] and his wife the former Diana McGill [born 1954].
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John Flinders Highley died 4 August, 2026.
He was born in 1948, son of Samuel Miller Highley (1906-1981), and his wife the former Dora Sophia Beatrice Flinders (1913-1981), and married 17 September, 1977, Harriet Louisa Aykroyd (born 15 October, 1951), scion of the Aykroyd baronets, daughter of Colonel Harold Hammond Aykroyd, OBE, MC, TD (1896-1974), and his second wife the former Kathleen Ellen Tyrrell-Gray (1914-2005), by whom he had two sons, Samuel (born 1981), and Henry (born 1985).
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Mark Norman Kemp-Gee, died 9 August, 2026. He was 80.
He was born 19 December, 1945, son of Bernard Maurice Kemp-Gee (1912-1993), and his wife the former Ann Mackilligin; and married 26 July, 1980, the Hon Lucy Lyttelton (born 10 June, 1954), third daughter of the 10th Viscount Cobham, KG GCMG GCVO TD PC (1909-1977), and his wife the former Elizabeth Alison Makeig-Jones (1915-1986), by whom he had three sons, Henry, Robert and John.
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Gervase Michael Buxton, who died 10 August, 2026, aged 87, was a scion of the Buxton baronets.
He was born 2 January, 1939, the eldest son of Michael Auriol Buxton (1914-1990), and his wife Elizabeth Edith Millicent Elwes (1916-2003), scion of that landed gentry family; & married 2 March, 1965, Susan Margaret McKenzie, daughter of (Kenneth) Malcolm McKenzie, of Hans Place, London, by whom he had two sons, Matthew (born 28 Sept, 1967), and Jocelyn (born 1972), and two daughters, Lucy (born 23 Aug, 1966), and Caragh (born 1969).
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The Baron Snape, a Labour life peer, died 12 August, 2026. He was 84.
Peter Charles Snape was born 12 February, 1942. He served as Labour MP for West Bromwich East Feb 1974-2001
Snape was the chairman of his hometown football club, Stockport County, as well as being a major shareholder in the club at the time of his chairmanship. He became vice-chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Speedway Racing in July 2015.
In 2004 he was raised to the peerage for life as Baron Snape, of Wednesbury in the County of West Midlands on 9 June 2004.
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The engagement was announced 14 August, 2026, between Henry Mark Tufnell Faber (born 20 March, 1992), son of David James Christian Faber (born 7 July, 1961), and his first wife the former Sally Elizabeth Gilbert (born 1963), & Carolina R. Ramirez, daughter of Mr & Mrs Samuel Ramirez, of Sutton Place, New York, United States.
Henry Faber is a grandson of Julian Tufnell Faber (1917-2002), and his wife the Lady Anne Caroline Macmillan (1923-2016), daughter of (Maurice) Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC, FRS (1894-1986), Prime Minister 1957-63, & his wife the Lady Dorothy Evelyn Cavendish, GBE (1900-1966), daughter of the 9th Duke of Devonshire, KG, GCMG, GCVO, TD, PC, JP, FRS (1868-1938).
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Carole Jennifer Andrée Forbes died 5 August 2026. She was the first wife of the 23rd Lord Forbes.
She born in 1948, and was a daughter of Norman Stanley Whitehead, of Aberdeen. She married firstly, 30 January, 1969 (div. 1982), the then Hon Malcolm Neil Forbes, Master of Forbes (born 6 May, 1946), son and heir of the 22nd Lord Forbes (1918-2013), and his wife the Hon Rosemary Katherine Hamilton-Russell (1921-2019), daughter of the 9th Viscount Boyne (1864-1942). Her first husband succeeded his father, 5 March, 2013, as 23rd Lord Forbes.
She married 2ndly, 2006, Dennis William Harding. She leaves issue, a daughter the Hon Joanna Carole Forbes (born 23 April, 1972), and was predeceased by her only son, the Hon Neil Malcolm Ross Forbes, Master of Forbes (born 10 March, 1970, died 2017).
Her grandson, Geordie Andrew Malcolm Forbes, Master of Forbes (born 28 November, 2010), is heir to his grandfather.
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Harry Arthur Cecil Russell, who died at Camberwell, Victoria, Australia, 7 August, 2026, aged 94, was a scion of the Russell baronets [cr 1812].
He was born 31 August, 1931, the younger son of Evelyn Aylmer Cecil Russell (1891-1963), and his 2nd wife the former Irene Brodrick.
He married in 1959, Marjorie Ailsa Sutton [1929-2015], daughter of Arthur Sutton, of Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia, by whom he had issue, a son Ewen (born 1967), and two daughters, Sarah (born 1962), Virginia Kate Cecil (born 1961).
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Diane Maxwell died 29 July, 2026, aged 89.
She was born 28 August 1936, daughter of William Lister Hartley (1904-1969), and his wife the former Lucila Ethel D'Alkaine (1903-1976), and married 1stly, 4 April, 1956, (John Michael) Anthony Hanbury-Williams (1933-1997), head of that landed gentry family, son of Sir John Hanbury-Williams, Kt, CVO (1892-1965), and his wife Princess Zenaida Cantacuzene (1908-1980), and married 2ndly, Timothy Maxwell.
She had children from her first marriage, three sons, Nicholas (born 1 Jan, 1957), Charles (born 18 Nov, 1958) and Michael (born 28 June, 1961, died 8 May, 2026), and a daughter, Victoria (born 27 Oct, 1967).
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The engagement was announced 11 August, 2026, between George Rupert Maguire Lodwick (born 1994), son of Jeremy Goulding Lodwick (born 1961), of Ashley Manor, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire, and his wife the former ____Weerner, and Henrietta Mary Riddell (born 1994), scion of that landed gentry family of Felton and Swinburne, daughter of Simon Francis Riddell (born 1961), of Cheeseburn Grange, Northumberland, and his wife the former Joanna Lucy Horlock (born 1962).
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Margaret Joan Vereker, who died 23 July, 2026, aged 96, was a scion of the Viscounts Gort.
She was born 9 December, 1929, the elder daughter of Maurice Charles Prendergast Vereker (1884-1963), and his wife the former Winifred Joan Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (1897-1982), scion of the Barons Saye & Sele. She was Unmarried.
She was a great-granddaughter of the 4th Viscount Gort (1819-1900), and a great-great-granddaughter of the 10th Baron Saye & Sele (1799-1887).
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The engagement was announced 10 August, 2026, between Joshua Edward Murton (born September, 1995), the only son of Francis Gerald Murton (born Dec, 1966), of St Helier, Jersey, and his wife the former Shân L. Rees (born circa 1963), and Ophelia Alexandra Browne (born 17 May, 1994), scion of the Barons Oranmore & Browne, elder daughter of Shaun Dominick Browne (born 22 January, 1964), of Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, heir presumptive to the Oranmore peerage, and his wife the former Elizabeth Jane Bird (born 1972).
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Sir Basil Henry David Montgomery, 9th Baronet, CVO, died at Kinross, 3 August, 2026. He was 95.
Known as Sir David Montgomery, he served as Lord Lieutenant of Perth and Kinross from 1995 having been Vice Lord Lieutenant 1966-74. He was Chairman of the Forestry Commission 1979-89.
He was born 20 March, 1931, son of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Keith Purvis-Russell-Montgomery, OBE (1896-1954), and his wife the former Cynthia Louisa Maconochie-Welwood (1900-1996(), descended from the Viscounts Strathallan.
He succeeded to the baronetcy, 28 January, 1964, on the death of his uncle, Sir Basil Montgomery, 8th Baronet.
He married 5 April, 1956, Delia Reid (1935-2019), daughter of Admiral Sir John Peter Lorne Reid, GCB, CVO (1903-1973), by his wife the former Jean Dundas (1909-1971), scion of the Dundas baronets, by whom he had issue, two sons, James and Andrew, and four daughters, Caroline, Davina, Iona and Laura.
His elder son, James David Keith Montgomery (born 13 June, 1957), succeeds as 10th baronet.
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Baroness Duncan-Sandys, who died 31 July, 2026, was the second wife and widow of the life peer, the Baron Duncan-Sandys, CH (1908-1997).
She was Marie-Claire Schmitt, daughter of Adrien Schmitt, of Paris, France, and married 1stly, 14 October, 1948 (div 1961), the 2nd Viscount Hudson (1924-1963), son of the 1st Viscount Hudson (1886-1957), and his wife the former Hannah Randolph (who died 24 April, 1969); and married 2ndly, in 1962, as his second wife, Edwin Duncan Sandys, CH, PC (born 24 January, 1908, died 26 November, 1987), raised to the peerage for life in 1974 as Baron Duncan-Sandys, former husband of Churchill's daughter Diana Spencer-Churchill (1909-1963), and son of Capt George John Sandys.
From her first marriage she leaves a daughter, Annabel (born 1952).
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Nicola Mary Brown, who died 29 July, 2026, aged 79, was a scion of the Minoprio landed gentry family.
She was born 9 January, 1947, a daughter of Frank Hilary Minoprio (1913-1980), and his wife Mary Wiloughby Renison (1914-1993); and married in 1967, Ca[t Michael Charles Brow (1945-2019), son of Horace Charles Brown (1906-1983), of Pymoor, Ely, Cambridgeshire, and his wife Florence Hard (1906-1980), by whom she had two sons, Guy and Christopher, and a daughter, Georgina.
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Jean Margaret Shaughnessy, who died 5 August, 2026, the day after her 99th birthday. She was an actress.
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| Jean Shaughnessy |
She leaves two sons, Charles George Patrick Shaughnessy (born 9 Feb, 1955), actor, who succeeded his second cousin in 2007, as the 5th Baron Shaughnessy, and David James Bradford Shaughnessy (born 3 March, 1957).
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The engagement was announced 8 August, 2026, between Austin Z. Bannister, son of Mr Garth Bannister, of Brisbane, Australia, and Ms Catherine Dupré, of Biggar, Scotland, and India Hebe Vanda Whitson (born 2004), younger daughter of James Alexander Whitson (1973-2024), descended from the Wrixon-Becher baronets, and his wife Ms Tamara Whitson (nee O'Connor), of Berwick St Leonard, Wiltshire.
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The marriage took place 1st August, 2026, at the Garrison Church of St George, Bulford, between Alexander Thomas Legard (born 25 January, 1999), scion of the Legard baronets, second son of Edward Thomas Legard (born 9 November, 1966), of Charlcot, near Masham, North Yorkshire, by his wife the former Lucy Frances Kirkpatrick (born 30 January, 1967), & Sophie Juanita D. Walker (born 14 May, 1999), daughter of General Sir (Charles) Roland Vincent (Roly) Walker, KCB, DSO (born 14 May, 1970), Chief of the General Staff and ADC to HM The King, of Castle Frome, Herefordshire, and his wife the former Kate Leonore White-Thomson (born 1970), scion of that landed gentry family, and descended from the Barons Clinton.
Alexander Legard is a grandson of Sir Charles Legard, 15th Baronet (1938-2025).
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Lady Antonia Mary Catherine Morant (nee Peel, born 14 December, 1991), wife of Hubert George H.J. Morant (born 26 April, 1993), gave birth to a son, Rafe William Simon Winston, 1st August, 2026, a brother for Martha Charlotte Marigold, who was born 22 February, 2024.
Hubert, scion of the Morant landed gentry family, is a son of Simon Nicholas Gale Morant (born 19 June, 1943), of Buckland Marsh, Oxfordshire, and his wife the former Jacqueline Susan Rich.
Lady Antonia is a daughter of the 3rd Earl Peel, GCVO, PC, DL [born 3 Oct, 1947], former Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth II, whose home is at Gunnerside, Swaledale, North Yorkshire, by his second wife the former Hon Charlotte Clementine Soames [born 17 July, 1954], scion of that landed gentry family, daughter of the life peer, the late Baron Soames, GCMG, GCVO, CH, CBE, PC (1920-87), and a granddaughter maternally of the Rt Hon Sir Winston Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, DL, FRS, RA [1874-1965].
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The Lady Lucy Helen Pelham, who died 1st August, 2026, aged 88, was a scion of the Dukes of Sutherland, sister of the 7th Duke.
She was born Lucy Helen Egerton, 5th December, 1937, the eldest child of Cyril Reginald Egerton (1905-1992), and his wife the former Mary Campbell (who died 23 Sept, 1949).
Her father was a grandson of the 3rd Earl of Ellesmere (1847-1914). The 1st Earl of Ellesmere was a younger son of the 1st Duke of Sutherland, and Lucy's only brother, Francis Ronald Egerton (born 18 February 1940) succeeded to the Sutherland dukedom, on the death of his cousin, the 6th Duke, 21 September, 2000.
Lucy was raised to the rank of a duke's daughter, becoming Lady Lucy, in 2002.
She married 25 October, 1958, Michael Alan Pelham, JP (1926-2022), scion of the Earls of Yarborough, but not in remainder to the title, son of Harry Alan Pelham (1891-1971), y his wife the former Doris Millicent Taunton (1895-1985), by whom she had issue, a son Charles Peregrine Pelham (born 27 July, 1959), and a daughter, Laura Mary Pelham (born 15 May, 1962).
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The engagement was announced 6 August, 2026, between the Hon Humphrey John FitzRoy Newdegate (born 23 November, 1995), son and heir of the 4th Viscount Daventry (born 27 July, 1960), of Arbury, Warwickshire, and Viscountess Daventry (nee Georgia Lodge, born 1964), & Arabella Elizabeth A. Kelly (born 1996), daughter of Christopher B. Kelly, of Henley Oxfordshire, and Mrs Melanie C.A. Hampton (born 1959, nee Miller), of Hungerford, Berkshire.
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The engagement was announced 5 August, 2026, between Capt Christopher Rupert David Elmhirst, Grenadier Guards (born 1998), scion of that landed gentry family, second son of Lieutenant-Colonel (Charles) Marcus Ross Elmhirst (born 1972), of Betws Ifan, Ceredigion, and his wife the Hon Jessamy Jane Lewis (born 1972), & Jemima Margaret van der Gaag (born 1997), daughter of Mark Christan Gerth (Marcus) van der Gaag (born Aug, 1968), of Hawkesbury, Kent, and his wife the former Susannah Brown.
Capt Elmhirst is a grandson maternally of the Hon Trevor Oswin Lewis, CBE (1935-2015), who succeeded as 4th Baron Merthyr, 5 April, 1977, and disclaimed the peerage for life, 26 April, 1977.
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Jeremy Harris, who died 27 July, 2026, aged 96, was a maternal grandson of the 4th Baron Hatherton.
Jeremy Mark Littleton Harris, was born in 1930, a son of John Elvine Harris, of that landed gentry family, by his wife the Hon Youla Edithe Littleton (1904-1992), daughter of the 4th Baron Hatherton (1868-1944).
He was a grandson of John Waugh Harris, of Stone, Staffordshire.
He married in 1956, Pauline Howson, daughter of Colonel Gilbert Howson, OBE, TD (1900-1969), of Nether Stanlow, Longsdon, Stoke-on-Trent, and his wife the former Daphne Shorter (1902-1976), by whom he had three sons, Charles, Paul, and Benjamin.
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Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie, Mrs Jack Brooksbank, wife of Mr Jack Christopher Stamp Brooksbank, gave birth to a daughter in Lisbon, Portugal, 3 August, 2026.
The baby is the third child for the princess, 36, and husband Jack Brooksbank, 40, and a fifth grandchild for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson.
The infant is fifteenth in line of succession to the throne, and the first member of the royal family to have been born in Portugal.
Catherine of Braganza, Queen Consort of King Charles II was born in Portugal, 25 November, 1638.
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank married at St George's Chapel, Windsor, 12 October, 2018.
The infant's father, Jack Christopher Stamp Brooksbank (born 3 May, 1986), is a scion of the Brooksbank baronets of Healaugh, Tadcaster, the elder son of the late Mr George Edward Hugh Brooksbank (1949-2021), by his wife the former Nicola J Newton (b 1953).
HRH Princess Eugenie Victoria Helena of York (b 23 March, 1990), is the younger daughter of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (born 19 February, 1960), by his former wife Sarah Margaret Ferguson [born 15 Oct, 1959], scion of the Ferguson landed gentry family, of Dummer, Hampshire.
Order of Succession to the Throne:
1.HRH The Prince of Wales
2. HRH Prince George of Wales
3. HRH Princess Charlotte of Wales
4. HRH Prince Louis of Wales
5. HRH The Duke of Sussex
6. Prince Archie of Sussex
7. Princess Lilibet of Sussex
8. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
9. HRH Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
10. Sienna Mapelli Mozzi
11. Athena Mapelli Mozzi
12.. HRH Princess Eugenie Mrs Jack Brooksbank
13. August Brooksbank
14, Ernest Brooksbank
15. Baby Brooksbank
16. HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
17. James, Earl of Wessex
18. Lady Louise Windsor
19. HRH The Princess Royal
20. Peter Phillips
Lionel Hugh Melville, MBE, who has died in Papua New Guinea, aged 84, was descended from the Scottish landed family of Spens.
He was born 30 July, 1942, the second son of Maj Edward Kenmure Landale Melville (1912-1991), and his wife the former Pamela Doreen Spens (1920-1998), scion of that landed family.
He was married and leaves issue, one daughter, Fritha Anne Sinclair Melville (born 20 Sept, 1972).
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The 3rd Viscount Stuart of Findhorn has died at Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada, aged 78.
(James) Dominic Stuart was born 25 March, 1948, the elder son of the 2nd Viscount Stuart of Findhorn (1924-1999), and his wife Grizel Mary Wilfreda Fyfe (who died 24 April, 1948, weeks after the birth of her son), former wife of Michael Gillilan, and daughter of David Theodore Fyfe.
Eton educated Dominic Stuart was a grandson of the Hon James Stuart, CH, MVO, PC (1897-1971), a younger son of the 17th Earl of Moray, Equerry to Prince Albert, Duke of York (afterwards King George VI) 1920-21, later a Conservative MP, & Secretary of State for Scotland in the Churchill and Eden administrations. James Stuart was a rival suitor for the hand of Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, who finally accepted Prince Bertie's proposal and married the Duke of York, April 26, 1923.
Dominic Stuart succeeded his father, 24 October, 1999, as 3rd Viscount Stuart of Findhorn. He married twice, firstly, 18 Aug 1979 (div. 2002) Yvonne Lucienne Després, daughter of Edgar Després; and married 2ndly, Gay ________. He had no issue by either marriage.
He leaves three half-sisters from his father's second marriage, the Hon Chloë Ann-Marie (born 1952), the Hon Rosalie Jane (born 1954)m and the Hon Vanessa Mary (born 1960). It is believed that his only half-brother and heir presumptive, the Hon Andrew Moray Stuart (born 20 Oct, 1957) predeceased him, and if so the viscountcy (created UK, 1959) becomes extinct.
He also leaves a half-sister, Serena Gillilan (born 1938), from his mother's first marriage.
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Elizabeth Alice Wise, who died at Northallerton, North Yorkshire, 2 August, 2026, aged 89, was born a scion of the Smith of Wilford House landed gentry family, and was a granddaughter of Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.
A third cousin, once removed, of King Charles III, her home was at Leyburn, North Yorkshire.
She was born at Kensington Palace, 5 September, 1936, the younger daughter of Colonel Sir Henry Abel Smith, KCMG, KCVO, DSO (1909-1993), and his wife the Lady May Helen Emma Cambridge (1906-1994), and was a granddaughter of the 1st Earl of Athlone KG GCB GCMG GCVO DSO KStJ PC FRS (1874-1957), and his wife HRH Princess Alice Mary Victoria Augusta Pauline of Albany, GBE, GCVO, GCStJ, VA (1883-1981), the only daughter of HRH The Prince Leopold George Duncan Albert, Duke of Albany, KG, KT, GCSI, GCMG, PC (1853-1884), and his wife Princess Helen Frederica Augusta of Waldeck & Pyrmont (1861-1922).
She was a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth) stood sponsor at her christening.
She married at St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, 29 April, 1965 (div 1975), Peter Ronald Wise (1929-2021), son of Capt Anthony Foster Wise (1885-1976), and his wife the former Eva Elizabeth Glentworth Baillie (1904-1976), by whom she had issue, an only child, Emma Charlotte Abel Wise (1973-1974), who died in tragic circumstances.
She is survived by a sister, Anne Liddell-Grainger (born 28 July, 1932).
For a detailed history see this from my old friend Marlene Eilers Koenig:-
Royal Musings: QVD death: Elizabeth Wise (1936-2026)
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Helen Matilda Wyld (born Dec 1980), wife of Calum G. Robertson (born 2 February, 1990), gave birth to a son, Aeneas Hugh Alexander, in Edinburgh, 17 July, 2026.
Calum Robertson is a son of Gavin and Pauline Robertson, of Fife.
Helen is a daughter of Martin Hugh Wyld, CBE (born 14 September, 1944), and his wife the former Katherine M. Cusack.
Helen Wyld is a granddaughter of John Hugh Gilbert Wyld (1915-1999), and his wife Helen Selina Leslie-Melville (1921-1946), scion of the Earld Leven & Melville.
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The Hon Nicholas Valoynes Bermingham Wallop, who died 27 July, 2026, aged 80, was a scion of the Earls of Portsmouth.
He was born 14 July, 1946, a son of the 9th Earl of Portsmouth (1898-1984), and his second wife the former Bridget Cory Crohan, CStJ (1911-1979), and had sisters Lady Philippa Wallop (1937-1984) , wife of the 8th Earl Cadogan, & Lady Jane Wallop (1939-2021), and an older half-brother, Oliver, styled Viscount Lymington (1923-84), and a half-sister, Lady Camilla (Mickey) Wallop (1925-2023), wife of Lord Rupert Nevill. He was uncle of Quentin, 10th Earl of Portsmouth (born 25 July, 1954).
He married 1 October, 1969, Lavinia N.J. Karmel (born 1948), daughter of David Carmel, CBE, QC, (1907-1982) by his wife the former Barbara Jessie Burton (1910-93), daughter of Sir Montague Maurice Burton (1885-1952), by whom he had issue, a son Harry (born 22 Nov, 1974), and a daughter, Victoria (born 1 Feb, 1972).
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The Marchioness of Blandford (nee Camilla Elizabeth Antonia Thorp, born 7 April, 1987), wife of George John Godolphin Spencer-Churchill, styled Marquis of Blandford (born 28 July, 1992), son and heir of the 12th Duke of Marlborough (born 24 Nov, 1955), of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, by his former first wife Rebecca Mary Few Brown (born July, 1962), gave birth to a son and heir, Orlando Charles Godolphin Spencer-Churchill, styled Earl of Sunderland, 15 April, 2026, a brother for Lady Olympia Arabella Kitty Spencer-Churchill, who was born 10 September, 2020, and for Lady Leonora Eliza Cressida Spencer-Churchill, who was born 7 December, 2024.
The Marchioness of Blandford is the eldest daughter of James Nicholas Thorp (born Feb, 1960), of Kern Farm, Alverstone, Isle of Wight, by his wife the former Philippa Clare Thomas (born March, 1959), and is a great niece of the actor, Richard Thorp [1932-2013], who appeared for many years as Alan Turner in the long running soap, Emmerdale.
George Blandford is heir to the following peerages: Baron Churchill of Sandridge, co. Hertford [E., 1685], the Marquess of Blandford [E., 1702], Duke of Marlborough [E., 1702] , the Earl of Sunderland [E., 1643], Baron Spencer of Wormleighton [E., 1603], & Earl of Marlborough, co. Wilts [E., 1689].
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The Hon Lady Storey died 24 July, 2026. She was a scion of the Cayley baronets.
She was born Virginia Anne Cayley, born 1 July, 1936, third of the seven daughters of Maj Sir Kenelm Henry Ernest Cayley, 10th Baronet (1896-1967), of Malpas House, Brompton, Scarborough, and his wife the former Frances Elizabeth Edwyna Brewis (1908-1974); and married 30 September, 1961, the then Richard Storey (born 23 January, 1937), son and heir of Samuel Storey, MP for Stretford 1950-66 (born 18 January, 1896), and his wife the former Elisabeth Woodcock (who died 1951).
Her husband's father was created a baronet, 30 January, 1960, and raised to the peerage of life, 16 June, 1966, taking the title Baron Buckton, of Settrington in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Richard Storey became the Hon Richard Storey in 1966, and succeeded his father in the baronetcy, 17 January, 1978.
She is survived by her husband and son, Kenelm (born 4 Jan, 1963), and two daughters, Elisabeth (born 27 Dec, 1964), and Melissa (born 6 July, 1968).
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The engagement was announced 31 July, 2026, between Thomas Sebastian Esmé Jackson (born 1993), scion of the Jackson baronets, of the Manor House, Birkenhead [Bt, UK, 1869], son of Brigadier Jolyon Thomas Jackson (born 12 October, 1957), of Corton, Wiltshire, and his wife the former Serena Howell, & Brittany C. [Bee] Dodds, daughter of Mr and Mrs Ian Dodds, of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Thomas Jackson is a grandson of Sir William Thomas Jackson, 8th Baronet (1927-2004)
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Paul Ralph Sugden died 28 July,2026. He was 83.
He was born 12 September, 1942, son of Lieutenant-Commander Peter Goldthorpe Sugden, DSC, RN (1913-1943), and his wife Penelope Anne Erskine (1920-1988), fourth daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Thomas Wilfred Hargreaves John Erskine of Cambo, 4th Baronet (1880-1944); and married 13 August, 1966, Janet Mary Rumsey (born 1942), daughter of Squadron Leader J.M. Rumsey, of Beaminster, Dorset, by whom he had issue, two sons, Thomas (born 29 Sept, 1969), and Christopher (born 4 Apr, 1975) and a daughter, Caroline (born 2 March, 1968).
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Lady Elizabeth Maria (Eliza) Mays-Smith, who died 24 July, 2026, aged 86, was a Guinness heiress, a scion of the Earls of Iveagh.
She was born 31 October, 1939, the elder daughter of Major Arthur Onslow Edward Guinness, styled Viscount Elveden (1912-1945), and his wife Lady Elizabeth Cecilia Hare (1914-1990), daughter of the 4th Earl of Listowel (1866-1931), and was a granddaughter paternally of Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh, KG CB CMG VD ADC FRS DL (1874-1967), politician, philanthropist, and head of the eponymous brewing dynasty.
She was a sister of Arthur Guinness, 3rd Earl of Iveagh (1937-1992), and Lady Henrietta Guinness (1942-1978). Lady Henrietta died by suicide jumping from a bridge in Italy.
Lady Eliza is an aunt of the 4th Earl of Iveagh (born 10 Aug, 1969).
Lady Eliza was raised to the rank of an earl's daughter on her brother's succession to the Earldom of Iveagh following their grandfather's death in 1967. She married 1stly, 28 September, 1960 (div 1990), David Hugh Lavallin Nugent (1935-2003), second son of Sir Hugh Charles Nugent, 6th Baronet (1904-1983), and his wife Margaret Mary Lavallin Puxley (who died 8 Aug, 2004), scion of that landed gentry family, & married 2ndly, 7 February, 1992, Robert Martin Mays-Smith (1930-2014), son of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Shankland Mays-Smith, MBE (1902-1980), and his wife the former Brenda Mary Hilda Rickett (1905-1990).
Lady Eliza leaves issue from her first marriage, three sons, Charles Hugo, and Rory, and was predeceased by a daughter, Sheelin.
Eliza Bridgeman, styled Viscountess Newport, wife of Alexander Michael Orlando Bridgeman, styled Viscount Newport [born 6 September, 1980], has given birth to a second son, the Hon Orlando George Alexander Bridgeman, 28 July, 2026 a brother for Archibald Henry Orlando (Archie), who was born 19 March, 2024.
Viscountess Newport (born 1991, nee Eliza Liepina), was educated at Auckland University, New Zealand. Lord and Lady Newport married at Weston Park, Shropshire, 14 May, 2022.
Viscount Newport is the eldest of the four children of the 7th Earl of Bradford [born 3 Oct, 1947], of Weston-under-Lizard, Shifnal, Shropshire, and his former 1st wife the former Joanna Elizabeth Miller [now Mrs Philip Porter, of Hungerford, Berkshire].
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Vanessa Margaret Connolly, who died 25 July, 2026, aged 82, was a scion of the Barons St John of Bletso.
She was born 26 February, 1944, third daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver Charles Beauchamp St John (1907-1976), and his wife the former Elizabeth Mary Lambton (1911-1957), scion of the Earls of Durham; and married 2 March, 1964, Nicholas John Connolly, son, a son, of Wilfrid John Connolly, of Wimbledon, London, by whom she had issue, a son, Rupert, and two daughters, Philippa and Victoria.
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Susanna Diana Georgina Peter-Hoblyn, who died 24 July, 2026, aged 89, was a scion of the Dukes of Grafton and a direct descendant of King Charles II.
She was born 18 June, 1937, daughter of Nigel Horatio Trevor FitzRoy (1889-1953), and his wife the former Diana Frances Pery-Knox-Gore (1914-1995), scion of the Earls of Limerick; and married twice, firstly, 22 September, 1964 (annulled 1966), William Anthony Coleridge (1934-2025), son of Guy Coleridge; married 2ndly, 13 March, 1967, George Henry Peter-Hoblyn (born 1943), son of Lieutenant-Colonel John Bampfylde Peter-Hoblyn (1909-1984), head of that landed gentry family, and his wife the former Dorothy Barbara Philipson-Stow, daughter of Sir Elliot Philipson-Stow, 2nd Baronet (1876-1954).
She leaves issue, a son, John FitzRoy Peter-Hoblyn (born 23 Feb, 1968), and Emma Frances (born 15 July, 1970).
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The engagement was announced 27 July, 2026, between George A. Peirson, younger son of Mr and Mrs Richard Peirson, of Richmond, Surrey, and Georgia Lucy Greenacre (born 2 July, 1995), elder daughter of Philip Laurence Greenacre (born 6 August, 1961), of Charney Bassett, Oxfordshire, and his wife the former Anna Katharine Simpson.
Georgia Greenacre is descended from the Earls of Lindsay:-
William Lindesay-Bethune, 14th Earl of Lindsay (1901-1985) > Lady Elizabeth Lindesay-Bethune (1932-1996) > Philip Greenacre (b 1961) > Georgia Greenacre (b 1995)
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The engagement was announced 27 July, 2026, between Gardie William Beauchamp James Duff (born 1993), son of David Robin Millais James Duff, 13th of Hatton (Scottish landed gentry) (born 1945), of Kirton, Montrose, Angus, and his 2nd wife the late former Jayne Elizabeth Bryce (1958-2021), & Florence A. Chick, elder daughter of Major John Chick, of Hasketon, Woodbridge, Suffolk, and Mrs Chick.
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The Baron Horam, life peer, died 24 July, 2026, aged 87.
John Rhodes Horam was a politician who represented three parties in Parliament. He was Labour MP for Gateshead West 1970-1983, but defected to SDP in 1981; and was Conservative MP for Orpington, 1992-2010.
On 4 September 2013 Horam was created a working life peer as Baron Horam, of Grimsargh in the County of Lancashire.
He was born 7 March, 1939, son of Sidney Horam, and his wife Catherine Harkness, and married in 1987, Mrs Judith Marian Jopp, former wife of Peter M. Jopp, and daughter of ____Jackson.
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The marriage took place 4 July, 2026, at Knowsley Hall, Lancashire, between Alexander Ronald Reviakin (born 1996), only son of Mr Sergei Reviakin, of London, and Mrs Rosanna Gardner (nee Kelly, born 21 May, 1964), of County Wexford, Ireland, and and the Lady Henrietta Mary Rose Stanley (born 6 February, 1997), only daughter of the 19th Earl of Derby, DL (born 10 Oct, 1962), of Knowsley Hall, Prescot, Merseyside, and the Countess of Derby (nee the Hon Caroline Neville, born 28 Dec, 1963, scion of the Barons Braybrooke).
Alexander (Sasha) Reviakin, a descendant of the 1st Viscount Camrose, began his career as a researcher and consultant on financial inclusion and innovation in the Arab world, working for various public and private sector organisations including the World Bank Group, Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) and Finance in Motion. His research has been complemented with entrepreneurial experience working to provide sustainable livelihoods to embroiderers in Lebanon. He holds an honours degree in Arabic, International Relations and History of Art with a thesis on the concept of the sublime in modern calligraphic art.
The 1st Viscount Camrose (1879-1954) > Hon Mary Cecilia Berry (1906-1996) > Alison Linda McNair Scott (1939-2019) > Rosanna Mary Kelly (b 1964) > Alexander Reviakin
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The Marquess of Queensberry, sometime professor of ceramics at the Royal College of Art, died 22 July, 2026. He was 96. He was a peer for 72 years.
Queensberry was the 14th Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tibberis [S., 1628]; the 11th Baronet Douglas, of Kelhead [N.S., 1667]; 14th Viscount of Drumlanrig [S., 1628]; the 12th Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanchar [S., 1681]; the 12th Marquess of Queensberry [S., 1681]; the 12th Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross [S., 1681]; the 14th Earl of Queensberry [S., 1633] ; and the 12th Lord Douglas of Kinmouth, Midlebie, and Dornock [S., 1681].
David Angus Harrington Douglas was born 19 December, 1929, son of the 11th Marquess of Queensberry (1896-1954), and his second wife the former Cathleen Sabine Mann (1897-1959); and he succeeded the family honours on the death of his father, 27 April, 1954.
He was educated at Eton and served as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards. He was appointed professor of ceramics at the Royal College of Art in 1959, and appointed a Fellow of the Royal College of Art in 1990.
He married thrice - firstly, 18 July, 1956 (div. 1969), Ann Jones, daughter of Maurice Sinnett Jones, and former wife of George Arthur Radford; married 2ndly, 10 July, 1969 (div. 1986), Alexandra Mary Clare Wyndham Sich (born 1943), daughter of Guy Wyndham Sich (1898-1958), of Cornwall Gardens, Kensington, and his wife the former Jean Denise Theobald (1919-1979), and married thirdly, 2000, Hsueh-Chun Liao.
Queensberry's mother-in-law, Jean Denise Theobald, was allegedly the illegitimate daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Dufferin & Ava (1875-1930).
Queensberry had issue from his three marriages. Two daughter from the first union, Lady Emma Cathleen Douglas (born 13 Sept, 1956) and Lady Alice Douglas (born 23 July,1965), three sons and a daughter from his second marriage, Sholto Francis Guy Douglas, Viscount Drumlanrig (born 1 June, 1967), and Lord Milo Luke Dickon Douglas (1975-2009), and Lord Torquhil Oberon Tobias Douglas (born 2 Nov, 1978), and Lady Kate Cordelia Sasha Douglas (born 21 Nov 1969), and a daughter by his third wife, Lady Beth Shan Ling Douglas (1999-2018).
The Marquess also leaves a son, Ambrose Carey (born 14 Nov, 1961) from a liaison with Caroline Carey.
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Marquess of Queensberry obituary: Aristocratic ceramicist
From The Times 30 July, 2026
Royal College of Art professor who lived through family tragedy and rubbed shoulders with Swinging Sixties set dies aged 96
David Douglas was playing cards with John Profumo in 1963 when the secretary of state for war learnt that his political career was about to end because of a sex scandal. David Queensberry, as the 12th Marquess of Queensberry was known professionally, was part of a Swinging Sixties set that included not only Profumo but also the photographers David Bailey and Patrick Lichfield and the artist David Hockney. He was also a designer and potter, and from 1959 to 1983 was professor of ceramics at the Royal College of Art.
The family was best known for his great-grandfather the 9th Marquess, who gave his name to the official rules of boxing in 1867 and many years later played a pivotal role in the downfall of Oscar Wilde having taken issue with the author’s homosexual relationship with his son Alfred “Bosie” Douglas. In February 1895 the marquess left a note on public display in the Albemarle Club declaring that Wilde was a “somdomite” (sic). Wilde sued for libel, but the case backfired and Wilde was convicted of gross indecency.
Queensberry remembered his father being visited by the impecunious Bosie, who was still betting on the horses until his death in 1945. “I think he was an awful fellow, extremely right-wing, antisemitic; there was nothing very good to be said about him,” he told The Times in 1995. “But I do think he was, in a minor way, quite a good poet.”…
…David Harrington Angus Douglas was born in Westminster in 1929, the younger of two children of Francis Douglas, 11th Marquess of Queensberry, Bosie’s stockbroker nephew, and his second wife, Cathleen Mann, a portrait artist; his sister, Jane, died in 2007. He had a half-sister, Patricia, from his father’s first marriage and a half-brother, Gawain, from his third marriage.
The family’s history dates back to medieval Scotland when Sir William Douglas died in the Tower of London in 1298 after fighting for William Wallace against the English. In 1633 another William Douglas was created Earl of Queensberry and in 1682 Charles II elevated the title to marquess. The 8th marquess shot himself in 1858 while hunting rabbits, one of his sons died climbing the Matterhorn and another cut his own throat with a razor in a London hotel. The 9th marquess was little loved by his family. He was once charged with affray after fighting in the street with his son, Queensberry’s grandfather, whom he spat at on his deathbed in 1900…
… Queensberry succeeded in the peerage in 1954, and made his maiden speech in the Lords in 1965 in support of reforming the law on homosexuality. Meanwhile, he embarked on a series of complicated romantic entanglements, marrying Ann Radford (née Jones), the actress Ann Queensberry, in 1956. They had two daughters, Emma, an artist, and Alice, a writer and theatre director who married an armed robber she met while volunteering in a prison. They also fostered a Nigerian boy.
During that time he also had a son, Ambrose Carey, from another relationship, though because they never married Ambrose, who founded a business intelligence consultancy, did not succeed in the titles. Ambrose’s half-sister, Carrie, married Salem bin Laden then, after his death in a plane crash in 1988, his brother Khaled. They were half-brothers of Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US.
… his first marriage was dissolved and in 1969 he married Alexandra Wyndham, a model. They had three sons, Sholto, Milo, who suffered from bipolar disorder and took his own life in 2009 aged 34, and Torquil, and a daughter, Kate, who once said: “Despite our 700-year heritage we are proud to be a very modern and gloriously dysfunctional family.” Sholto, known by the courtesy title Viscount Drumlanrig, had been born during Queensberry’s first marriage, but his succession as the 13th Marquess was assured by his parents’ subsequent marriage.
That too was dissolved and in 1999 Queensberry declared: “I’ve failed at marriage twice, so I’m disinclined to embark on it again.” The following year he married Hsueh-Chun Liao, a Taiwanese artist almost 40 years his junior with whom he already had a daughter, Beth, known as Ling Ling, a talented violinist. The so-called “Queensberry curse” struck again when Beth died in 2018, aged 18, after taking drugs at a Notting Hill party…
Professor David Queensberry (David Douglas), 12th Marquess of Queensberry and ceramicist, was born on December 19, 1929. He died on July 22, 2026, aged 96
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