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'''Marita Georgina Phillips''' (b. [[28 May]] [[1954]], [[London]]), a British songwriter and playwright, was born the third daughter of Lt.-Col. Harold Pedro Joseph Phillips and his wife, [[Georgina Kennard|Georgina Wernher]] who was the elder daughter and co-heiress of Sir Harold Wernher, 3rd Bt, by his wife Countess [[Anastasia de Torby]] (later Lady Zia Wernher, CBE). She had a brother [[Nicholas Harold Phillips]] (1947-1991), two older sisters including the Duchess of Abercorn, and a younger sister Natalia (the Duchess of Westminster).<ref>[http://www.thepeerage.com/p11283.htm The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe]</ref>
'''Marita Georgina Phillips''' (b. [[28 May]] [[1954]], [[London]]), a British songwriter and playwright, was born the third daughter of Lt.-Col. Harold Pedro Joseph Phillips and his wife, [[Georgina Kennard|Georgina Wernher]] who was the elder daughter and co-heiress of Sir Harold Wernher, 3rd Bt, by his wife Countess [[Anastasia de Torby]] (later Lady Zia Wernher, CBE). She had a brother [[Nicholas Harold Phillips]] (1947-1991), two older sisters including the Duchess of Abercorn, and a younger sister Natalia (the Duchess of Westminster).<ref>[http://www.thepeerage.com/p11283.htm The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe]</ref>


Marita is a direct descendant of the Russian poet, [[Alexander Pushkin]]<ref>[http://home.the-wire.com/~steph/rfrr/rfyahoonews.html The Wire Pushkin gets a makeover in the west]</ref>; through Pushkin, she is descended from his African great-grandfather, [[Abram Petrovich Gannibal]] (otherwise [[Ibrahim Hannibal]]) who was Peter the Great's protégé. <ref>[http://www.thepeerage.com/p11283.htm The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe]</ref>
Marita is a direct descendant of the Russian poet, [[Alexander Pushkin]]<ref>[http://home.the-wire.com/~steph/rfrr/rfyahoonews.html The Wire Pushkin gets a makeover in the west]</ref>; through Pushkin, she is descended from his African great-grandfather, [[Abram Petrovich Gannibal]] (otherwise [[Ibrahim Hannibal]]) who was Peter the Great's protégé.<ref>[http://www.thepeerage.com/p11283.htm The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe]</ref>


Marita is a British songwriter and playwright.<ref>[http://www.thepeerage.com/p11283.htm The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe]</ref> <ref>[http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/3620.html CDI Library Russia List]</ref>
Marita is a British songwriter and playwright.<ref>[http://www.thepeerage.com/p11283.htm The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe]</ref> <ref>[http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/3620.html CDI Library Russia List]</ref>
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Marita Phillips studied acting at [[The Guildhall School of Music and Drama]] and ballet at the Nesta Brooking School before training as a mime with Adam Darius, with whom she founded and ran The Mime Centre, London.
Marita Phillips studied acting at [[The Guildhall School of Music and Drama]] and ballet at the Nesta Brooking School before training as a mime with Adam Darius, with whom she founded and ran The Mime Centre, London.



==Royal ancestry==
==Royal ancestry==
Marita and her three other sisters, including [[Alexandra Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn|the Duchess of Abercorn]] and [[Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster|the Duchess of Westminster]] are close to the British Royal Family, and are related distantly, via their Russian great-grandfather, to HRH The [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Duke of Edinburgh]]. <ref>[http://www.thepeerage.com/p11283.htm The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe]</ref> <ref>[http://news.bahai.org/story/124 London tribute to honor contributions to conservation and the arts]</ref>
Marita and her three other sisters, including [[Alexandra Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn|the Duchess of Abercorn]] and [[Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster|the Duchess of Westminster]] are close to the British Royal Family, and are related distantly, via their Russian great-grandfather, to HRH The [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Duke of Edinburgh]].<ref>[http://www.thepeerage.com/p11283.htm The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe]</ref> <ref>[http://news.bahai.org/story/124 London tribute to honor contributions to conservation and the arts]</ref>


Their maternal grandmother Lady Wernher was born Countess [[Anastasia de Torby]] (later Lady "Zia" Wernher), younger [[morganatic]] daughter of [[Grand Duke Michael Mihailovich of Russia]] (a grandson of Emperor [[Nicholas I of Russia]]) by his wife [[Count of Merenberg|Countess Sophie of Merenberg]], morganatic daughter of Prince Nicholas of Nassau (himself brother of the Grand Duke of [[Luxembourg]] by his wife, the younger daughter of Russia's greatest poet [[Alexander Pushkin]]. Lady Zia's sister [[Nadezhda de Torby|Nadezhda]] (or "Nada") was wife of the [[George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven]], elder maternal uncle of Prince Philip. The Torby sisters were third cousins of the prince through their common ancestor Nicholas I. It is through their Russian grand ducal father that Marita is descended from [[Sophia, Electress of Hanover]].
Their maternal grandmother Lady Wernher was born Countess [[Anastasia de Torby]] (later Lady "Zia" Wernher), younger [[morganatic]] daughter of [[Grand Duke Michael Mihailovich of Russia]] (a grandson of Emperor [[Nicholas I of Russia]]) by his wife [[Count of Merenberg|Countess Sophie of Merenberg]], morganatic daughter of Prince Nicholas of Nassau (himself brother of the Grand Duke of [[Luxembourg]] by his wife, the younger daughter of Russia's greatest poet [[Alexander Pushkin]]. Lady Zia's sister [[Nadezhda de Torby|Nadezhda]] (or "Nada") was wife of the [[George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven]], elder maternal uncle of Prince Philip. The Torby sisters were third cousins of the prince through their common ancestor Nicholas I. It is through their Russian grand ducal father that Marita is descended from [[Sophia, Electress of Hanover]].
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Marita's mother Lady Kennard remains a close friend of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Marita's mother Lady Kennard remains a close friend of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.


In 1982, Marita married [http://www.harrowassociation.com/html/crawley/about/randall/ Randall Crawley] ([[1950]]-[[1988]]), a son of [[Aidan Crawley]] MP and his wife Virginia Cowles. Crawley was killed with his brother Andrew in a private plane crash near Turin in Italy on [[10 September]] [[1988]]<ref> Harriet Crawley, their sister, speaks about the Crawley Gap Year Scholarships in memory of her brothers.[http://www.harrowassociation.com/html/crawley/about/] Retrieved 18 September 2007. </ref><ref>" Ayer's adopted son dies" The Daily Telegraph, 2004. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/12/31/wvic331.xml] Harriet Crawley loses her husband Julian Ayer, adoptive son of the philosopher Freddie Ayer, in a Sri Lankan flood. </ref>, leaving issue two sons and one daughter. The posthumous younger son [[List of godchildren of members of the British Royal Family#Charles.2C_Prince_of_Wales|Galen Crawley]] is a godson of [[Charles, Prince of Wales]]. <ref>[http://www.smatrust.org/index.php?id=21 Work of the SMA Trust]</ref>In 2006, Marita remarried, her second husband being the journalist, turned media baron, [[Andrew Knight]] (b. 1939).<ref>[http://www.thepeerage.com/p11283.htm The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe]</ref>
In 1982, Marita married [http://www.harrowassociation.com/html/crawley/about/randall/ Randall Crawley] (1950-1988), a son of [[Aidan Crawley]] MP and his wife Virginia Cowles. Crawley was killed with his brother Andrew in a private plane crash near Turin in Italy on [[10 September]] [[1988]]<ref> Harriet Crawley, their sister, speaks about the Crawley Gap Year Scholarships in memory of her brothers.[http://www.harrowassociation.com/html/crawley/about/] Retrieved [[18 September]] [[2007]]. </ref><ref>" Ayer's adopted son dies" The Daily Telegraph, 2004. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/12/31/wvic331.xml] Harriet Crawley loses her husband Julian Ayer, adoptive son of the philosopher Freddie Ayer, in a Sri Lankan flood. </ref>, leaving issue two sons and one daughter. The posthumous younger son [[List of godchildren of members of the British Royal Family#Charles.2C_Prince_of_Wales|Galen Crawley]] is a godson of [[Charles, Prince of Wales]].<ref>[http://www.smatrust.org/index.php?id=21 Work of the SMA Trust]</ref> In 2006, Marita remarried, her second husband being the journalist, turned media baron, [[Andrew Knight]] (b. 1939).<ref>[http://www.thepeerage.com/p11283.htm The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe]</ref>


==Siblings==
==Siblings==
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*[http://home.the-wire.com/~steph/rfrr/rfyahoonews.html The Wire Pushkin gets a makeover in the west]
*[http://home.the-wire.com/~steph/rfrr/rfyahoonews.html The Wire Pushkin gets a makeover in the west]
*[http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/3620.html CDI Library Russia List]
*[http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/3620.html CDI Library Russia List]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawley, Maria}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawley, Maria}}
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[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]

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Revision as of 22:56, 7 July 2008


Marita Georgina Phillips (b. 28 May 1954, London), a British songwriter and playwright, was born the third daughter of Lt.-Col. Harold Pedro Joseph Phillips and his wife, Georgina Wernher who was the elder daughter and co-heiress of Sir Harold Wernher, 3rd Bt, by his wife Countess Anastasia de Torby (later Lady Zia Wernher, CBE). She had a brother Nicholas Harold Phillips (1947-1991), two older sisters including the Duchess of Abercorn, and a younger sister Natalia (the Duchess of Westminster).[1]

Marita is a direct descendant of the Russian poet, Alexander Pushkin[2]; through Pushkin, she is descended from his African great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Gannibal (otherwise Ibrahim Hannibal) who was Peter the Great's protégé.[3]

Marita is a British songwriter and playwright.[4] [5]

She has written songs for artists such as Peter Skellern, Demis Roussos, William Lovelady and Art Garfunkel. She has also written the libretto for the opera “The Poet and the Tsar”, based on the lives of her great-great-great-grandfathers, Alexander Pushkin and Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, to be performed by Helikon Opera in Moscow in 2007.

She has also written a play on Alexander Pushkin, entitled “Song from a Cage.”

Marita Phillips studied acting at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama and ballet at the Nesta Brooking School before training as a mime with Adam Darius, with whom she founded and ran The Mime Centre, London.

Royal ancestry

Marita and her three other sisters, including the Duchess of Abercorn and the Duchess of Westminster are close to the British Royal Family, and are related distantly, via their Russian great-grandfather, to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.[6] [7]

Their maternal grandmother Lady Wernher was born Countess Anastasia de Torby (later Lady "Zia" Wernher), younger morganatic daughter of Grand Duke Michael Mihailovich of Russia (a grandson of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia) by his wife Countess Sophie of Merenberg, morganatic daughter of Prince Nicholas of Nassau (himself brother of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg by his wife, the younger daughter of Russia's greatest poet Alexander Pushkin. Lady Zia's sister Nadezhda (or "Nada") was wife of the George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, elder maternal uncle of Prince Philip. The Torby sisters were third cousins of the prince through their common ancestor Nicholas I. It is through their Russian grand ducal father that Marita is descended from Sophia, Electress of Hanover.

Marita's sister Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster is a godmother of Prince William of Wales.

Marita's mother Lady Kennard remains a close friend of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

In 1982, Marita married Randall Crawley (1950-1988), a son of Aidan Crawley MP and his wife Virginia Cowles. Crawley was killed with his brother Andrew in a private plane crash near Turin in Italy on 10 September 1988[8][9], leaving issue two sons and one daughter. The posthumous younger son Galen Crawley is a godson of Charles, Prince of Wales.[10] In 2006, Marita remarried, her second husband being the journalist, turned media baron, Andrew Knight (b. 1939).[11]

Siblings

References

  1. ^ The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe
  2. ^ The Wire Pushkin gets a makeover in the west
  3. ^ The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe
  4. ^ The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe
  5. ^ CDI Library Russia List
  6. ^ The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe
  7. ^ London tribute to honor contributions to conservation and the arts
  8. ^ Harriet Crawley, their sister, speaks about the Crawley Gap Year Scholarships in memory of her brothers.[1] Retrieved 18 September 2007.
  9. ^ " Ayer's adopted son dies" The Daily Telegraph, 2004. [2] Harriet Crawley loses her husband Julian Ayer, adoptive son of the philosopher Freddie Ayer, in a Sri Lankan flood.
  10. ^ Work of the SMA Trust
  11. ^ The Peerage A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe
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