The Duchess of Wellington caused quite a stir in the House of Lords at the official opening of Parliament today.
King Charles may have made a historic speech, but the elegant tiara and brooch worn by the Duchess (officially known as Antonia Elizabeth Brigid Louise Mansfeld of Prussia) also attracted plenty of attention.
The historical headdress was, according to Tatler magazine, first used by Lady Elisabeth Hay, 2nd Duchess of Wellington, who was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria and daughter-in-law of the 1st Duke of Wellington.
Today, the 69-year-old royal, who wore a sophisticated white lace dress with impeccable cream gloves, looked every bit the duchess, completing her look with a pair of large pearl earrings.
But many may be wondering who this mysterious royal is and what her connection is to The Firm.
Dressed in a sophisticated white lace dress, cream gloves, large pearl earrings and a dazzling brooch, Antonia, 69, looked every bit the duchess at the State Opening of Parliament today.
Close connections: The Duchess of Wellington guided King Charles, then Prince of Wales, on a visit to the Royal Ballet School’s White Lodge campus in Richmond Park in 2016.
The Duchess of Wellington is the great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria through her father, Prince Frederick of Prussia.
Antonia’s mother, Lady Brigid Guinness, is also the daughter of the 2nd Earl of Iveagh, Rupert Guinness.
During World War II, Lady Brigid worked as a nursing assistant and cared for Prince Friedrich, who was injured in a tractor accident.
The couple fell in love and married just a couple of years later in 1945 in Little Hadham, Hertfordshire.
Prince Frederick renounced his German nationality to become a British citizen under the name von Preussen. Antonia was born in April 1955, along with her twin brother Rupert.
Their father died under mysterious circumstances when the twins were just 10 years old, after he was found drowned in the Rhine River while staying at his Reinhartshausen Castle in Erbach, Germany.
The Duchess of Wellington attended Cobham Hall School, a private girls-only school in Kent, and soon after attended King’s College and graduated in English.
On 3 February 1977 she married Charles Wellesley, now Duke of Wellington, at St Paul’s Church in Knightsbridge, London. He is the eldest son of the 8th Duke of Wellington, a businessman and member of the House of Lords.
The lavish wedding was attended by the then Prince Charles, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret.
Antonia and Charles had five children: Arthur Wellesley, Earl of Mornington, Lady Honor Victoria Wellesley, Lady Mary Luise Wellesley, Lady Charlotte Wellesley and Lord Frederick Wellesley.
Antonia and the late Princess Diana are pictured at a Guinness Trust project in Manchester in 1991.
The Duke and Duchess of Wellington pictured at the wedding of their daughter, Lady Charlotte Wellesley, in 2016. The couple have five children together.
The then Prince Charles and the then Duchess Camilla are accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Wellington during a visit to the battlefield and Lion’s Mound in Belgium in 2015
In 2008, Antonia was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and was later elected a Fellow of Eton College.
Her aristocracy and status should not be underestimated, as she has remained close to members of The Firm.
There are photographs of Antonia at a Guinness Trust Project in Manchester alongside the late Princess Diana in 1991.
The Duchess became President of the Royal Ballet School in 2009, a position she held until December 2019.
She had the pleasure of showing Prince Charles around the Royal Ballet School, White Lodge campus in Richmond Park in 2016.
And the Duke and Duchess of Wellington attended the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla on May 6 last year and were given the role of carrying Queen Mary’s crown during the Queen’s regalia procession.
In 2023, the couple were also invited to stand alongside Charles and Camilla on the first day of Ascot, signifying their importance to the monarch.
