Lady Helen Taylor

For other people named Helen Taylor, see Helen Taylor (disambiguation).

Lady Helen Taylor
Taylor in 2022
Born
Lady Helen Marina Lucy Windsor

(1964-04-28) 28 April 1964
Iver, Buckinghamshire, England
OccupationBusiness representative
Spouse
​
(m. 1992)​
Children4
Parents
RelativesHouse of Windsor
Education

Lady Helen Marina Lucy Taylor (née Windsor; born 28 April 1964) is a relative of the British royal family. She is the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and Katharine, Duchess of Kent, and a great-granddaughter of King George V.

Early life and youth

Lady Helen Marina Lucy Windsor was born on 28 April 1964 at Coppins, a country house in Iver, Buckinghamshire, the only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Kent. She was christened on 6 June in the private chapel at Windsor Castle by the Dean of Windsor Rt. Rev. Robin Woods. Her godparents were Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon; Hon. Angus Ogilvy, Myra Butter, and Sir Philip Hay.[1]

She was educated at Eton End[2] School in Datchet, then at St Mary's School, Wantage,[3] and Gordonstoun.[4] At Gordonstoun, she was one of 20 sixth form girls "in the robustly masculine environment of Gordonstoun," wrote Alan Hamilton.[5]

She was called "Melons" in the popular press.[6][7]

I was slightly chubby, it was the boys at Gordonstoun who called me that. I think there are only about two people who call me that now. The original context has long gone.[8]

During the 1980s, her boyfriend was Nigel Oakes, who "appalled the Queen" after she smuggled him into her parents' grace-and-favour home, York House, St James's Palace.[9][10]

According to Lol Tolhurst of The Cure, Helen was a "mad Cure fan" who visited the band backstage at a gig in Bath in 1983.[11]

Career

After she left Gordonstoun (where she had art class), she was desperate[12] to come to London and earn money, starting in 1984 at Christie's auction house in their Contemporary Department.[13]

Helen worked with the art dealer Karsten Schubert between 1987 and 1991, behind the front desk, and was later credited with discovering Rachel Whiteread and Gary Hume, but confessed in a television interview that she had turned down representing artist Damien Hirst.[14]

For 17 years, Helen was a fashion ambassador and muse to Giorgio Armani.[15]

Marriage and children

At some point Helen reportedly dated David Flint Wood, who would later marry her cousin India Hicks.[16]

At 19, Helen met[12] Timothy Verner Taylor (born 8 August 1963), an art dealer. They married nine years later, on 18 July 1992, at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. The bride wore a Catherine Walker design.[17] Giorgio Armani provided an outfit for her wedding.[18]

In 1998, her husband was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease.[12]

Helen and her husband have four children, who immediately follow her in the Line of succession to the British throne:

  • Columbus George Donald Taylor (born 6 August 1994)
  • Cassius Edward Taylor (born 26 December 1996)
  • Eloise Olivia Katherine Taylor (born 2 March 2003)
  • Estella Olga Elizabeth Taylor (born 21 December 2004)

Charity work

She is a patron of the CLIC Sargent children's cancer charity.[19]

She is a trustee of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.[13]

She is on the advisory board of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera after being a trustee.[13][20][21]

Authored articles

  • "Lady Helen Taylor Pays Tribute To Her Dear Friend, Mr Armani: "He Was Such A Tease"". British Vogue. 19 October 2025.

References

  1. ^ "Court Circular". The Times. 8 June 1964. p. 12.
  2. ^ Kidd, Charles; Montague-Smith, Patrick (1982). Debrett's book of royal children. W. Morrow. p. 151. ISBN 9780688013806.
  3. ^ Panton, James (2011). Historical Dictionary of the British Monarchy. Scarecrow Press. p. 362. ISBN 9780810874978.
  4. ^ Express, Sunday (July 1983). A Week in the life of the royal family. Macmillan Publishing Company. p. 143. ISBN 9780026154307.
  5. ^ Hamilton, Alan (1986). The Royal 100: a who's who of the first 100 people in line of succession to the British throne (Illustrated ed.). Pavilion. ISBN 9780907516934.
  6. ^ People Magazine Archive: Windsor Castle Lights Up with Lasers as the 'queenyboppers'—four Royal Cousins—turn 21 Archived 13 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine 8 July 1985 Vol. 24 No. 2 "Lady Helen Windsor, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, is known as "Melons" because of her ample proportions." & "True to form, Lady Helen—"Melons"—was at the center of the party's only controversy. Her ex-boyfriend, Oakes, crashed the event and was escorted out by police."
  7. ^ Dolby, Karen (14 November 2017). The Wicked Wit of Queen Elizabeth II. Penguin. ISBN 9780451492272. Retrieved 21 May 2018 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ "How Lady Helen said farewell to Melons". scotsman.com. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  9. ^ "why so wild about harry?". scotsman.com. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  10. ^ "The Londoner: The naked truth of Mary Beard at college". standard.co.uk. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  11. ^ Tolhurst, Laurence (2016). "Chapter 15: The Top". Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys. Quercus. ISBN 978-1-78429-339-0.
  12. ^ a b c "Portrait of a Lady". standard.co.uk. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  13. ^ a b c "Who we are". The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  14. ^ The Anniston Star. 19 July 1992. Anniston, Alabama Page 23 "Lady Helen is a director of London's Karsten Schubert gallery of contemporary art. Taylor, 29, is a dealer with the Waddington Galleries..."
  15. ^
  16. ^ Macdonald, Marianne (13 April 2012). "Runaway bridesmaid". The Standard. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  17. ^ "'Iconic royal wedding gowns". Harper's Bazaar. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  18. ^ "Armani and muse part ways". FashionUnited. 4 July 2009. Archived from the original on 4 July 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2018 – via archive.org.
  19. ^ "CLIC Sargent – Caring for Children and Young People with Cancer : Midsummer party raises £400,000 for children and young people with cancer". Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  20. ^ "Glyndebourne Annual Report 2016" (PDF). Cloudinary.com. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  21. ^ "Glyndebourne Annual Report 2015" (PDF). Cloudinary.com. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
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