Fortune FitzRoy, Duchess Of Grafton
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Fortune FitzRoy, Duchess Of Grafton
Ann Fortune FitzRoy, Duchess of Grafton, (; 24 February 1920 – 3 December 2021) was a British courtier who served as Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth II from 1967 until her death in 2021. She was the wife of Hugh FitzRoy, 11th Duke of Grafton, and grandmother of Henry FitzRoy, 12th Duke of Grafton. Early life and family She was born on 24 February 1920 to Captain Evan Cadogan Eric Smith , of Lower Ashfold, Slaugham, Sussex, and his wife Beatrice Helen (née Williams). Her father was chairman of National Provincial Bank and Rolls-Royce. By birth, she was a member of the Smith banking family and a descendant of Oswald Smith of Blendon Hall, Kent, and thereby a second cousin twice removed of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and a fourth cousin of Sir Oswald Mosley. Fortune had three brothers: Sir John Smith, a Conservative MP, banker and founder of the Landmark Trust; Jeremy Fox Eric Smith; and Mark Smith, an eye specialist. She was an aunt of Serena Soames, Baroness ...
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Her Grace
His Grace or Her Grace is an English style used for various high-ranking personages. It was the style used to address English monarchs until Henry VIII and the Scottish monarchs up to the Act of Union of 1707, which united the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England. Today, the style is used when referring to archbishops and non-royal dukes and duchesses in the United Kingdom. Examples of usage include His Grace The Duke of Norfolk; His Grace The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury; or "Your Grace" in spoken or written address. As a style of British dukes it is an abbreviation of the full formal style "The Most High, Noble and Potent Prince His Grace". Royal dukes, for example Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, are addressed with their higher royal style, Royal Highness. The Duchess of Windsor was styled "Your Grace" and not Royal Highness upon marriage to Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor. Ecclesiastical usage Christianity The style "His Grace" and "Your Grace" is used in England ...
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Blendon, London
Blendon is an area of South East London within the London Borough of Bexley, located between Bexleyheath and Sidcup. History It is probably named after the Bladindon family who owned land in the area. Blendon Hall was built in 1763, was sold to a local housing developer in 1929 and eventually demolished to make way for suburban housing.Willey, Russ. ''Chambers London Gazetteer'', p 48. Today the area is a middle-class residential district with a small row of shops along the western stretch of Blendon Road. Transport Rail The closest National Rail station to Blendon is Albany Park station, Albany Park. Buses Albany Park is served by four Transport for London bus services. * 132 to Greenwich Peninsula, North Greenwich via Eltham, London, Eltham and to Bexleyheath (Weekend 24 Hour Service) * B13 to New Eltham and to Bexleyheath * B14 to Orpington via Sidcup and to Bexleyheath * N21 to Trafalgar Square via Eltham, Lewisham and New Cross and to Bexleyheath (Night Service) Nearby ...
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Social Season (United Kingdom)
The social season, or season, refers to the traditional annual period in the spring and summer when it is customary for members of the social elite of British society to hold balls, dinner parties and charity events. Until the First World War, it was also the appropriate time to be resident in the city (generally meaning London) rather than in the country in order to attend such events. In modern times in the United Kingdom, "the Season" is known to encompass various prestigious events that take place during the spring and summer. According to ''The Sloaney'' magazine's online guide "Sloaney Season", it starts with Cheltenham Festival (March), and includes the Grand National (April), The Boat Race (April), Badminton Horse Trials (May), Chelsea Flower Show (May), Epsom Derby (June), Royal Ascot (June), Test matches at Lord's (July), Wimbledon (July), Henley Royal Regatta (July), Edinburgh International Festival (August) and others, ending with Goodwood Revival (September). Socia ...
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Court Of St James's
The Court of St James's is the royal court for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. All ambassadors to the United Kingdom are formally received by the court. All ambassadors from the United Kingdom are formally accredited from the court –  – as they are representatives of the Crown. The Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps (before 1920, Master of the Ceremonies), who acts as the link between the British monarch and foreign diplomatic missions, is permanently based at St James's Palace. In 1886, there were only six ambassadors in London, with 37 other countries represented by ministers. By 2015, this had increased to 175 foreign missions accredited to the Court of St James's: 47 high commissions from Commonwealth countries and 128 embassies from non-Commonwealth countries. Official meetings and receptions associated with the court, such as Privy Council meetings or the annual Diplomatic Reception attended by 1,500 guests, are held wherever the monarch is in residence— ...
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Debutante
A debutante, also spelled débutante, ( ; from french: débutante , "female beginner") or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and, as a new adult, is presented to society at a formal "debut" ( , ; french: début, links=no ) or possibly debutante ball. Originally, the term meant that the woman was old enough to be married, and part of the purpose of her coming out was to display her to eligible bachelors and their families, with a view to marriage within a select circle. Austria Vienna, Austria, still maintains many of the institutions that made up the social, courtly life of the Habsburg Empire. One of those is the most active formal ball season in the world. From 1 January to 1 March, no less than 28 formal balls, with a huge variety of hosts, are held in Vienna. Many are for specific nationalities, like the Russian Ball or the Serbian Saint Sava ball; social groups like the Hunter's Ball or Verein Grünes Kreuz b ...
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Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust. The hospital is the largest centre for child heart surgery in the UK and one of the largest centres for heart transplantation in the world. In 1962 they developed the first heart and lung bypass machine for children. With children's book author Roald Dahl, they developed an improved shunt valve for children with hydrocephalus, and non-invasive (percutaneous) heart valve replacements. They did the first UK clinical trials of the rubella vaccine, and the first bone marrow transplant and gene therapy for severe combined immunodeficiency.Breakthroughs It is closely associated with University College London (UCL) and in partnership with the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, which is adjace ...
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Dione Grimston, Countess Of Verulam
Dione Angela Grimston, Countess of Verulam, (née Smith; born 19 July 1954) is a British artist and former Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire. The daughter of Jeremy Smith and Julia Burrell, she is maternally granddaughter of Sir Walter Burrell, 8th Baronet. She married John Grimston, 7th Earl of Verulam, on 12 September 1976. Lord and Lady Verulam have four children: *James Grimston, Viscount Grimston (b. 6 January 1978) *Hon. Hugo Guy Sylvester Grimston (b. 5 November 1979) *Hon. Sam George Grimston (b. 18 October 1983) *Lady Flora Grimston (b. 28 September 1981) The Countess of Verulam served as High Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 2002 and was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire in June 2007 following the retirement of Sir Simon Bowes-Lyon. She served until July 2017 and was the first woman to hold that office. She was succeeded by Robert Voss. She was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 2019 Birthday Honours. Lady Verulam has worked on churc ...
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Nicholas Soames
Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames, Baron Soames of Fletching, (born 12 February 1948) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Sussex from 1997 to 2019, having previously served as the MP for Crawley from 1983 to 1997. Soames was Minister of State for the Armed Forces from 1994 to 1997 in the government of John Major. He had the whip removed on 3 September 2019, for voting against the government, before it was restored on 29 October. His main political interests are defence, international relations, rural affairs and industry. He is a grandson of former prime minister Sir Winston Churchill. Early life, education and military service Soames was born in 1948 in Croydon, Surrey, the eldest son of Sir Christopher Soames and Dame Mary (née Spencer-Churchill) Soames. He is a grandson of the British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, and a grandnephew of the founders of the Scout movement, Lord and Lady Baden-Powell. His b ...
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Landmark Trust
The Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then makes them available for holiday rental. The Trust's headquarters is at Shottesbrooke in Berkshire. Most Trust properties are in England, Scotland and Wales. Several are on Lundy Island off the coast of north Devon, operated under lease from the National Trust. In continental Europe there are Landmark sites in Belgium, France and Italy. Five properties are in the United States — all in Vermont — one of which, Naulakha, was the home of Rudyard Kipling in the 1890s. The Trust is a charity registered in England & Wales and in Scotland. The American sites are owned by an independent sister charity, Landmark Trust USA. There is also an Irish Landmark Trust. Those who rent Landmarks provide a source of funds to support restoration costs and building maintenance. The first rentals were in 1967 when ...
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Member Of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often have a different title. The terms congressman/congresswoman or deputy are equivalent terms used in other jurisdictions. The term parliamentarian is also sometimes used for members of parliament, but this may also be used to refer to unelected government officials with specific roles in a parliament and other expert advisers on parliamentary procedure such as the Senate Parliamentarian in the United States. The term is also used to the characteristic of performing the duties of a member of a legislature, for example: "The two party leaders often disagreed on issues, but both were excellent parliamentarians and cooperated to get many good things done." Members of parliament typically form parliamentary groups, sometimes called caucuse ...
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Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the Two-party system, two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. It is the current Government of the United Kingdom, governing party, having won the 2019 United Kingdom general election, 2019 general election. It has been the primary governing party in Britain since 2010. The party is on the Centre-right politics, centre-right of the political spectrum, and encompasses various ideological #Party factions, factions including One-nation conservatism, one-nation conservatives, Thatcherism, Thatcherites, and traditionalist conservatism, traditionalist conservatives. The party currently has 356 Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Members of Parliament, 264 members of the House of Lords, 9 members of the London Assembly, 31 members of the Scottish Parliament, 16 members of the Senedd, Welsh Parliament, 2 D ...
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John Smith (Conservative Politician)
Sir John Lindsay Eric Smith (3 April 1923 – 28 February 2007) was a British banker, Conservative Member of Parliament, and Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire. He was involved with many architectural, industrial and maritime conservation charities. He founded the Landmark Trust in 1965. Early and private life Smith was born in London, the son of Captain Evan Cadogan Eric Smith MC of Ashfold in Sussex and his wife, Beatrice ''Helen'' (née Williams). He was a scion of an old banking family: Smiths of Nottingham was founded in the 1650s, and merged with the National Provincial Bank after the First World War, and his father became its chairman. His mother was the daughter of Albert Williams and granddaughter of Sir George Williams, founder of the YMCA, and a great-granddaughter of Thomas Cook. His elder sister, Fortune, married Hugh FitzRoy, Earl of Euston (later 11th Duke of Grafton) in 1946; she was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II from 1953 and 1966, and was the Mi ...
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