Alexandra Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn
| Her Grace The Duchess of Abercorn OBE | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Alexandra Anastasia Phillips 27 February 1946 Tucson, Arizona, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn (m. 1966) |
| Children |
James Hamilton, Marquess of Hamilton Lady Sophia Hamilton Lord Nicholas Hamilton |
| Parents |
Harold Phillips Georgina Wernher |
Alexandra Anastasia "Sacha" Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn, OBE (b. 27 February 1946, Tucson, Arizona, U.S.) is the wife of James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn.[1]
Royal ancestry
The Duchess of Abercorn and her children (as well as her sister, Natalia) are in the line of succession to the British throne as descendants of Sophia, Electress of Hanover. They are also descendants of the Russian author, Alexander Pushkin, as well as his African great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Gannibal, who was both a tribal prince and a protégé of Peter the Great. It is through their Russian grand ducal father that Alexandra and Natalia are descended from Sophia, Electress of Hanover.
The sisters are related to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: Their maternal grandmother was born Countess Anastasia de Torby (later Lady "Zia" Wernher), younger morganatic daughter of Grand Duke Michael Mihailovich of Russia (a grandson of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia) by his wife Countess Sophie von Merenberg, morganatic daughter of Prince Nikolaus of Nassau (himself brother of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg) by his wife Natalya Aleksandrovna, the younger daughter of Russia's most renowned poet, Pushkin.
Lady Zia's sister Countess Nadezhda de Torby (or "Nada") was the wife of George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, elder maternal uncle of the Duke of Edinburgh. The Torby sisters were third cousins of the prince through their common ancestor, Tsar Nicholas I.
The Duchess of Abercorn is a close friend of the Duke of Edinburgh, and her sister, the Duchess of Westminster, is a godmother of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. The Duke of Abercorn was a first cousin of John, 8th Earl Spencer, father of Diana, Princess of Wales, through their mutual ancestor James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn.
She is the eldest daughter of Lt.-Col. Harold Pedro Joseph Phillips (1909–1980) and his wife, Georgina Wernher (1919–2011).[1] Her younger sister is Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster. Her paternal grandparents were Col. Joseph Harold John Phillips and his wife Mary Mercedes Bryce, whose niece Janet Mercedes Bryce (daughter of Major Francis Bryce of Hamilton, Bermuda) married David Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven, son of Nadejda Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven, sister of Alexandra's grandmother.
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Siblings
- Nicholas Harold Phillips (23 August 1947 – 1 March 1991)
- Fiona Mercedes Phillips (born 30 March 1951)
- Marita Phillips (born 28 May 1954)
- Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster (born 8 May 1959)
Marriage
On 20 October 1966, Alexandra Anastasia Phillips married James Hamilton, Marquess of Hamilton (who in 1979, succeeded as the 5th Duke of Abercorn), son of James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Abercorn and Lady Mary Katherine Crichton, in Westminster Abbey. The Duke and Duchess of Abercorn have three children and three grandchildren:
- James Harold Charles Hamilton, Marquess of Hamilton (19 August 1969) he married Tanya Marie Nation on 7 May 2004. They have two sons:
- James Alfred Nicholas Hamilton, Viscount Strabane (30 October 2005)
- Lord Claud Douglas Harold Hamilton (b. 12 December 2007).
- Lady Sophia Alexandra Hamilton (8 June 1973) she married Anthony Loyd on 7 September 2002 and they were divorced in February 2005.
- Lord Nicholas Edward Hamilton (5 July 1979) he married Tatiana Kronberg on 30 August 2009. They have one daughter:
- Valentina Neva Hamilton (19 December 2010)
The Duchess and her family reside at Baronscourt, near Drumquin, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
Public roles
- The Duchess is the founder of the Pushkin Prizes. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours for her work with the Pushkin Trust.[2]
- The Duchess is the Honorary Secretary of the Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma & Transformation in Omagh, County Tyrone, site of an 1998 Real IRA bombing that left 29 people dead (one of whom was pregnant with twins). She is also the patron of the Omagh Community Youth Choir, founded in the aftermath of 1998.
- The Duchess is the House Patron of Abercorn House at Cambridge House Grammar School, Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Footnotes
- 1 2 Dewar, Peter Beauclerk (2001). Burke's landed gentry of Great Britain: together with members of the titled and non-titled contemporary establishment (19 ed.). Burke's Peerage. ISBN 978-0-9711966-0-5
- ↑ "No. 58729". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2008. p. 8.
External links
| Preceded by Charlotte Phillips |
Line of succession to the British throne | Succeeded by James, Marquess Hamilton |