Lady Sarah Chatto - Early Life

Early Life

Lady Sarah was born on 1 May 1964 at Kensington Palace in London. She attended the Camberwell School of Art and Middlesex Polytechnic (Middlesex University since 1992) and is a professional painter, represented by the Redfern Gallery. She is also Vice President of The Royal Ballet, an appointment she accepted in 2004, following the example of her mother, who was a patron of The Royal Ballet.

She and her brother, Viscount Linley, have attracted far less media attention than their cousins, the Queen's children, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. Their mother interfered very little in their professional and personal lives. Queen Elizabeth II keeps in close contact with Lady Sarah and Lord Linley; they often accompany her on family holidays and they and their children are always invited to Royal events. They usually spend Christmas with the Royal Family at Sandringham.

Lady Sarah's half-sister, Lady Frances von Hofmannsthal (née Armstrong-Jones), born 17 July 1979, is also a daughter of the 1st Earl of Snowdon by his second wife, Lucy Lindsay-Hogg. She also has a half-brother, Jasper Cable-Alexander (born 30 April 1998), who is a son of the 1st Earl of Snowdon by his extramarital affair with Melanie Cable-Alexander, an editor at Country Life magazine. According to a 2008 biography of Snowdon Lady Sarah has another half-sister who was born in 1960 (shortly after her parents' marriage) and whom a private 2004 paternity test confirmed as a daughter of the 1st Earl of Snowdon. Polly Fry was raised as the daughter of Jeremy Fry, an inventor and arts patron and member of the Fry's chocolate family, and his first wife, Camilla. Fry described her claim as "utter nonsense".