Jane Percy, Duchess of Northumberland
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Her Grace The Duchess of Northumberland |
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|---|---|
| Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland | |
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In office 2009 – present |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Preceded by | Sir John Riddell |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Isobel Jane Miller Richard 11 May 1958 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse(s) | Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland |
| Children | Lady Catherine Valentine George Percy, Earl Percy Lady Melissa Percy Lord Max Percy |
| Parents | John Richard Angela, Lady Buchan-Hepburn |
| Networth |
 £315 million |
Isobel Jane Miller Percy, Duchess of Northumberland (née Richard; born 11 May 1958), is a British businesswoman. She has served as Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland since 2009, and is best known for redeveloping The Alnwick Garden at Alnwick Castle. Her husband Ralph is the 12th Duke of Northumberland.
The Duchess was born in Edinburgh in 1958. She is one of four children of the stockbroker John Richard (1933–2003), as well as sororal grandniece of Max Woosnam. Her mother, Angela, Lady Buchan-Hepburn (née Scott), is the owner of Kailzie Gardens, an income-generating family garden located in the Scottish Borders. Her parents got divorced in the early 1970s and both remarried; her stepmother Christine was a Conservative group leader on the City of Edinburgh Council, while her stepfather was Sir Ninian Buchan-Hepburn, 6th Baronet (1922–1992). As a child, she helped her mother maintain Kailzie Gardens and aspired to become a champion figure-skater, practising for the Scottish Junior Championships at Murrayfield Ice Rink. She quit when she was 13 and was enrolled at Cobham Hall in Kent.
At the age of 16, she met the 17-year-old Lord Ralph Percy at his cousin's birthday party, and later followed him to the University of Oxford, where she took a secretarial course. They married on 21 July 1979 at Traquair Parish Church, despite being deemed too young by their parents. The pair have four children:
The couple lived in a farmhouse in Northumberland until 1995, when Lady Ralph Percy's brother-in-law Henry, 11th Duke of Northumberland, died from heart failure after an overdose of amphetamines. Her husband succeeded to the dukedom; she is the first Duchess of Northumberland not to come from the titled aristocracy. As old family friends, the Duke and Duchess attended the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton.
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