Family
The Dukes of Portland originally were a Dutch family. Hans Willem (or William) Bentinck came to Britain from Holland with William of Orange in 1670, and was created Earl of Portland in 1689. His son, Henry, 2nd Earl, was created Duke of Portland in 1716.
As there were no male heirs when Lady Anne's father died in March 1977, he was succeeded in the dukedom by a distant relative, his third cousin Ferdinand Cavendish-Bentinck. However, the family seat of Welbeck Abbey and the family fortune passed to his daughter. This was due to the legal arrangements made by Anne's grandfather (6th Duke of Portland). Her grandfather was also the younger half-brother of the Countess of Strathmore, who was the mother of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who went on to be the Queen Mother.
Eventually the dukedom died out due to a lack of male heirs in 1990. However the earldom continues on presently. The 12th Earl of Portland is actor Tim Bentinck, also known as David Archer to the listeners of the BBC Radio 4 soap opera The Archers. Her sole heir is her nephew, William Parente, who is married with two children. He is the beneficiary to her £158 million estate.
As a débutante, she refused to marry a Belgian nobleman, destined to be Prince Charles of the Belgians. When he came to ask for her hand in marriage she reportedly refused to get out of bed. Instead she wished to marry John Osborne, 11th Duke of Leeds. However her family refused to allow the marriage. She never married.
Read more about this topic: Lady Anne Cavendish-Bentinck
Famous quotes containing the word family:
“Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements.”
—Elizabeth II (b. 1926)
“Unfortunately, life may sometimes seem unfair to middle children, some of whom feel like an afterthought to a brilliant older sibling and unable to captivate the family’s attention like the darling baby. Yet the middle position offers great training for the real world of lowered expectations, negotiation, and compromise. Middle children who often must break the mold set by an older sibling may thereby learn to challenge family values and seek their own identity.”
—Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)
“Sometimes I think that idlers seem to be a special class for whom nothing can be planned, plead as one will with them—their only contribution to the human family is to warm a seat at the common table.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)