Margot Duke, Marchioness of Reading

Margot Irene Duke, Marchioness of Reading (11 January 1919 - 19 April 2015) was a British aristocrat and campaigner.

Early life

Margot was one of three daughters of Percival Augustus Duke and Violet Mappin, and was the half-sister of Sir Charles Mappin, Violet's son by her first marriage into the Mappin & Webb family.[1]

Margot attended Benenden school and became a society beauty, and the face of Pond's face cream.[2]

Marriage and family

In 1940, Margot married Michael, Viscount Erleigh, later the 3rd Marquess of Reading.

They had four children:

The family lived at Staplefield Grange, Staplefield Green, near Haywards Heath, Sussex.

Personal interests

Margot was one of the first women to hold a pilot's licence, and also competed in the 1952 Round Britain car rally. She wrote an historical novel Anne of the Sealed Knot about her civil war ancestor Anne Duke.

She took an outspoken position on social issues, writing to the Spectator in support of English football hooligans,[5] and considered a political career as a Conservative. She was a keen member of the Mid Surrey Drag Hunt and later a campaigner for animal rights, particularly camels (through the Wild Camel Protection Foundation) and bears.[6]

Later life

The Marchioness retired to Glebe Farm House, Cornwell, near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire. She died on 19 April 2015, and her funeral was held at St Mary's Church, Chipping Norton.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Adventure on the South Seas". Spectator.
  2. ↑ "The Dowager Marchioness of Reading - obituary Aristocrat who raced stock cars and praised the fighting spirit of the English football hooligan". Daily Telegraph. 14 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "Antony Rufus-Isaacs". IMDB.
  4. ↑ "One lets it all hang out". Spectator.
  5. ↑ "Yobs and proud of it". The Spectator. 26 June 1998.
  6. ↑ Williamson, Marcus (18 May 2015). "The Dowager Marchioness of Reading: Society beauty who defied convention to fly planes and race cars, and outraged many with her views on hooligans". Independent.
  7. ↑ "Deaths announcements". Daily Telegraph.
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