Diana Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington
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Her Grace The Duchess of Wellington MBE |
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|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Diana Ruth McConnel 14 January 1922  Woolwich, London, England
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| Died | 1 November 2010 (aged 88) Apsley House, London, England, UK |
| Spouse(s) | Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington (m. 1944–2010) |
| Children |
Charles Wellesley, 9th Duke of Wellington Lord Richard Wellesley Lady Jane Wellesley Lord John Wellesley Lord James Wellesley |
| Parents |
Douglas McConnel Ruth Garnet-Botfield |
Diana Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington MBE (14 January 1922 – 1 November 2010), was the wife of Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington, and a British intelligence officer during World War II.
Born Diana Ruth McConnel in Woolwich, she was the only daughter of Major-General Douglas McConnel, an instructor at the Royal Military Academy, and his wife, Ruth Mary (née Garnett-Botfield). Her only brother died soon after birth, and she had no other siblings.
She resolved not to marry a military man after living apart from her father, though she did live happily with her parents in India for two years. She was only seventeen, not yet finished school, when the Second World War broke out. She lived in Jerusalem when her father was stationed there. She worked as a secretary for the military in the King David Hotel and served often as her father's Aide-de-camp.
It was there that she met Valerian Wellesley, who in 1943 became Marquess of Douro when his father, then Lord Gerald Wellesley, inherited the Dukedom of Wellington from his nephew. They were married on 28 January 1944. The Marquess and Marchioness of Douro would have five children:
During the course of her regular work Diana discovered a plot by the Stern Gang to bomb St George's Cathedral on her wedding day. The bomb was retrieved but the couple still received a police escort, which Lord Douro believed to be the standard procedure at the wedding of a general's daughter, his bride not having revealed the plot to him at the time.
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