Zara Holt
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Dame Zara Bate DBE |
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Dame Zara Holt in 1950
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| Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia | |
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In office 26 January 1966 – 17 September 1967 |
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| Preceded by | Dame Pattie Menzies |
| Succeeded by | Lady Gorton |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Zara Kate Dickins 10 March 1909 Kew, Victoria |
| Died | 14 June 1989 (aged 80) Gold Coast, Queensland |
| Resting place | Sorrento Cemetery |
| Spouse(s) | James Fell (div. 1940s) Harold Holt (dec. 1967) Jeff Bate (dec. 1984) |
| Children | Nicholas (Fell); Sam and Andrew (Holt) |
| Signature |  |
Dame Zara Kate Bate DBE (also Dame Zara Holt, née Dickins; 10 March 1909 – 14 June 1989) was an Australian fashion designer and wife (later widow) of the Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt.
She was born in Kew, Victoria as Zara Kate Dickins. She was educated at Ruyton Girls' School and Toorak College. In 1925, aged 19, she and her friend Bettine 'Betty' James (later the wife of Sir Roy Grounds) established a dress shop in Little Collins Street. With another friend, she later opened a salon, called Magg, in Toorak Village. In 1961 a Magg dress won the Australian Gown of the Year award.
Her first husband was Colonel James Fell, by whom she had three sons, Nicholas (1937) and twins Sam and Andrew (1939). Their marriage broke down soon after the birth of the twins. They divorced, and in 1947 she married Harold Holt, a Liberal Party politician. He legally adopted her children and gave them his surname. Tom Frame's biography The Life and Death of Harold Holt reveals that Holt was the twins' biological father.
Harold Holt was a member of Robert Menzies' Cabinet continuously from 1949, becoming deputy Liberal leader in 1956 and Treasurer in 1958. When Menzies retired in January 1966, Holt became Prime Minister. Zara brought a new style and prominence to the role of prime minister's wife.
In December 1967, Harold Holt drowned and his body was never recovered.
Zara Holt was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 1968, for "devotion to the public interest". In 1968 Dame Zara published My Life and Harry: An autobiography.
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