Emma Manners, Duchess of Rutland
| Her Grace The Duchess of Rutland | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Emma L J Watkins September 2, 1963 Cardiff, Wales |
| Spouse(s) | The 11th Duke of Rutland |
| Children |
Lady Violet Manners Lady Alice Manners Lady Eliza Manners Charles Manners, Marquess of Granby Lord Hugo Manners |
Emma Manners, Duchess of Rutland (née Watkins, born 1963 in Cardiff),[1] is a Welsh-born British noblewoman.
Biography
Born Emma Watkins, the daughter of a farmer from Knighton, Powys (then within Radnorshire), after schooling at Ellerslie School, Malvern, she started training as an opera singer at the Guildhall School of Music, but dropped out. She then began training as a land agent in Southampton, but quickly moved into working in estate agents marketing properties in London. Chronically dyslexic, she was sacked for charging a buyer £10,000 too much on purchasing a property. She then worked as an interior designer until her marriage, after meeting her future husband at a dinner party.[2]
Today, the Duchess runs the commercial activities of Belvoir Castle, including shooting parties, weddings and a range of furniture.[3] She has presented on various television programmes, including ITV's Castles, Keeps and Country Homes, and has produced a book about Belvoir Castle.[2] In September 2018, The Engine Yard at Belvoir opened, a commercial village designed and engineered by Duchess Rutland.
Personal life
She married David Manners, 11th Duke of Rutland, in 1992.[2] The couple have five children:
- Lady Violet Diana Louise Manners (b. 18 August 1993)
- Lady Alice Louisa Lilly Manners (b. 27 April 1995)
- Lady Eliza Charlotte Manners (b. 17 July 1997)
- Charles John Montague, Marquess of Granby (b. 3 July 1999)
- Lord Hugo William James Manners (b. 24 July 2003)
The family initially lived in the adjacent Knipton Lodge, a six-bedroomed Georgian house. Following the death of the 10th Duke in 2001, they moved into newly renovated private apartments, which had formerly been the nanny's residence. The couple have a staff of one butler and a nanny.[2]
Titles and styles
- Miss Emma Watkins (2 September 1963 – 6 June 1992)
- Marchioness of Granby (6 June 1992 – 2 January 1999)
- Her Grace The Duchess of Rutland (2 January 1999 – present)
References
- ↑ "Search Results for Civil Births in Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records | findmypast.co.uk". www.findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
- 1 2 3 4 Dennison, Matthew. From faded grandeur to pampered starlet – Belvoir Castle is the country pile that's wooing Hollywood, Daily Mail, 24 October 2009. Accessed 3 October 2017.
- ↑ Grice, Elizabeth. Emma Rutland of Belvoir Castle: A thoroughly modern duchess, Daily Telegraph, 16 July 2012. Accessed 3 October 2017