Rosie Pope (born January 1, 1980) is a
British American
British American usually refers to Americans whose ancestral origin originates wholly or partly in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Cornwall, Orkney, and the Isle of Man). It is primarily a demographic or histor ...
entrepreneur and businesswoman. She was born in 1980 in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, England. She founded the Rosie Pope Maternity clothing store and lifestyle brand, as well as MomPrep parent education service, to cater to well-to-do expecting parents. She is best known for her Bravo reality show, ''
Pregnant in Heels'', which showed Pope doing everything from helping expectant mothers choose a maternity wardrobe, to teaching them about making their home safe for children, to resolving conflicts with a spouse over child-rearing.
Early life
Rosie Pope was born in London. Her parents stopped living together when she was very young .
Education
Rosie attended the Parliament Hill School in north London and studied with the youth division of The London Contemporary School of Dance. She was offered a place at Edinburgh Medical School when she was 18 years old but instead auditioned for and was accepted to the
Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Cente ...
American Dance Center in New York. During this time, she was also modeling and worked with Steve Miesel and ''
Italian Vogue
''Vogue Italia'' is the Italian edition of ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' magazine. Owned by Condé Nast International, it has been called the top fashion magazine in the world. It's been in publication since 1964.
Name
''Vogue Italia'' was first ...
''. After sustaining an injury, she went to
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
to study
neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...
.
Career
While pregnant with her first child, Rosie took a job part-time at
A Pea in the Pod in order to learn more about the maternity clothing design business. In 2008, Rosie founded Rosie Pope Maternity, a clothing store that caters to women who are expecting a child. Its flagship store is located in New York, with another store in Santa Monica, California. In 2010, she founded MomPrep, which includes prenatal, postpartum and wellness education classes In 2010, Bravo TV began filming the reality show ''
Pregnant in Heels'', which shows Rosie as she works as a maternity
concierge
A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the errands of ...
for expecting millionaire parents. She charges about $500 per hour for her services. Her show was launched after she was featured helping
Real Housewife Bethenny Frankel
Bethenny Frankel (born November 4, 1970) is an American businesswoman, television personality, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and author. She starred in the Bravo television series ''The Real Housewives of New York City'', having appeared in eight ...
prepare for her baby on the reality show ''
Bethenny Getting Married''.
Pope's book, ''Mommy IQ: The Complete Guide to Pregnancy'' was released in October 2012. She co-authored the book with her doctor.
Personal life
Rosie met Daron Pope while he was working for
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Gol ...
. Her father-in-law, Mike Pope, is a coach for the
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
. Rosie and Daron's son, James Roderick "J.R." Pope, was born in September 2008, on the same day her flagship store in New York opened. Rosie struggled to get pregnant with her second child, Wellington "Wells" Reade, born February 5, 2011. She underwent
in vitro fertilization
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...
treatments and had one of her
fallopian tube
The fallopian tubes, also known as uterine tubes, oviducts or salpinges (singular salpinx), are paired tubes in the human female that stretch from the uterus to the ovaries. The fallopian tubes are part of the female reproductive system. In ot ...
s removed in the process. Six months after having Wellington, Rosie received news from her doctor that she was pregnant again. On May 13, 2012, Vivienne Madison Pope was born. On March 6, 2014, Rose gave birth to daughter Bridget Monroe.
On July 6, 2012, Rosie became a United States citizen, after having lived in the country since she was 18 years old.
Speech
Viewers and journalists have discussed Rosie's speech patterns, and pondered whether or not she has a speech impairment or might be hard of hearing. For example, Starcasm's staff described Rosie's speech as a "British-American accent that seem
icto have a little something extra going on. It doesn't quite sound like anything we've ever heard before." Additionally, ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' spoofed both Rosie's show and her accent in a sketch starring
Abby Elliott
Abby Elliott is an American actress and comedian who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 to 2012 and has since starred on the Bravo comedy ''Odd Mom Out'' and the NBC sitcom '' Indebted''. She is the daughter of actor/comedian ...
, who says of her (Rosie's) accent: "I was born in England, raised in America, and every morning a thousand bees sting my tongue."
''
OK!'' magazine's Valerie Nome addressed the issue with Rosie in a May 24, 2011 article. Asking her whether little kids have ever questioned her voice, Rosie replied with a laugh that "Little kids have never had a problem understanding me, I have to say. I think it's funny. I never knew that's what people were going to get upset about. 'Speech impairment, lisp, what is she talking about?' As far as I know, there's nothing wrong with my tongue - however I think it's hilarious that people are talking about it."
Claims to have been a Baroness
During a web interview on April 25, 2011, Rosie Pope answered a question about her statement during an episode of Pregnant in Heels that she was a
Baroness
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher th ...
:
Very complicated and the British Royal Family and all that craziness is almost more difficult than anyone could understand. About a decade ago, when the new Labour government came in, they made some people Lords and Ladies who were not born into the Royal Family because before that point, it had to be hereditary. My mom was one of those people which is how I got my title. My mother then later denounced '' ic' her title which is why I no longer have a title. My mom did so for various political reasons, so incredibly complicated.[live.washingtonpost.com/rosie-pope-pregnant-in-heels-health-chat-new.html
]
Her statements have been challenged as inaccurate because the titles of
"Lady" or "Lord" have been created for hundreds of years outside of the Royal Family. The title of
Life Peers
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are cr ...
was created in 1958; however, by definition, Life Peers do not pass their titles to their children, nor do their children automatically receive a title. Unlike the case with hereditary titles, there is no legal precedent for a
Life Peer giving up a title.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Rosie
1980 births
Living people
British emigrants to the United States
American female dancers
American dancers
Columbia University alumni
21st-century American women