- Alexandra Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn
Alexandra Anastasia "Sacha" Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn, OBE (b.
27 February 1946 ,Tucson, Arizona , U.S.) is the wife of the current Duke of Abercorn.She is the elder daughter of Lt.-Col. Harold Pedro Joseph Phillips and his wife, Georgina. Her younger sister is Duchess of Westminster. Her paternal grandparents were Joseph Harold John Phillips and wife Mary Mercedes Bryce, whose niece Janet Mercedes Bryce (daughter of
Major Francis Bryce ofHamilton, Bermuda and wife Gladys Jean Mosley) marriedDavid Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven .The Duchess of Abercorn and her children (as well as her sister) are in the
line of succession to the British Throne , 630th, as direct descendants ofSophia, Electress of Hanover . They are direct descendant of the Russianpoet ,Alexander Pushkin , as well as hisAfrican great-grandfather,Abram Petrovich Gannibal , who was a protégé ofPeter the Great . It is through their Russian grand ducal father that Alexandra and Natalia are descended fromSophia, Electress of Hanover .Royal ancestry
The sisters are related distantly to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Their maternal grandmother Lady Wernher was born Countess
Anastasia de Torby (later Lady "Zia" Wernher), youngermorganatic daughter ofGrand Duke Michael Mihailovich of Russia (a grandson of EmperorNicholas I of Russia ) by his wife Countess Sophie of Merenberg, morganatic daughter of Prince Nicholas of Nassau (himself brother of the Grand Duke ofLuxembourg by his wife, the younger daughter of Russia's greatest poetAlexander Pushkin .Lady Zia's sister Nadezhda (or "Nada") was wife of the
George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven , elder maternal uncle of Prince Philip. The Torby sisters were third cousins of the prince through their common ancestor Nicholas I.The Duchess of Abercorn is a close friend of the Duke of Edinburgh today, and her sister the Duchess of Westminster is a godmother of
Prince William of Wales . The Duke of Abercorn was himself closely related toDiana, Princess of Wales whose father was his first cousin.iblings
*
Nicholas Harold Phillips (23 August 1947 –1 March 1991 )
*Fiona Mercedes Phillips (born30 March 1951 )
*Marita Phillips (born28 May 1954 )
*Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster (born8 May 1959 )Marriage
On
20 October 1966 , Alexandra "Sacha" Phillips married the Marquess of Hamilton (laterDuke of Abercorn ) inWestminster Abbey , elder son of the 4th Duke of Abercorn. They have three children:*
James Hamilton , Marquess of Hamilton (b.19 August 1969 )
*Lady Sophia Alexandra Hamilton (b.8 June 1973 )
*Lord Nicholas Edward Hamilton (b.5 July 1979 )The Duchess and her family reside at Baronscourt, near
Drumquin ,County Tyrone ,Northern Ireland .Public roles
*The Duchess is the founder of the
Pushkin Prize s. She was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours for her work with the Pushkin Trust. [LondonGazette |issue=58729 |date=14 June 2008 |startpage=8 |supp=yes |notarchive=yes]*The Duchess is the Honorary Secretary of the Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma & Transformation in
Omagh ,County Tyrone , site of an 1998Real IRA bombing that left 29 people dead (one of whom was pregnant with twins).*The Duchess is the House Patron of Abercorn House at
Cambridge House Grammar School ,Ballymena ,County Antrim ,Northern Ireland .Footnotes
External links
* [http://www.irlfunds.org/monaco/news_12.asp The Duchess receives The Ireland Fund of Monaco's Princess Grace Humanitarian Award 2006]
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