Country Life

Flowerpot men, narcissi and the art of the Famous Five

Miss Béatrice Poole-connor

Béatrice is studying towards her bachelor’s degree in International Management and Spanish at the University of Bath in Somerset. She is a former marketing intern at Hackett and the daughter of Murray and Armelle Poole-connor of Fulham, London.

Miss Genevieve Chenneour

Genevieve is an actress and former synchronised swimmer who has starred in Bridgerton and in 1242: Gateway to the West. She is the daughter of Alice Chenneour of the New Forest, Hampshire, and Tim Randall of Calne, Wiltshire.

Miss Molly Mcdonald

Molly is the founder of Blue Door Productions, which specialises in adventure films, illuminating record-breaking expeditions and challenges from around the world. She is the daughter of Daniel and Lauren Mcdonald of New York City, US.

Miss Ellea Whamond

Ellea is the co-founder of 100 Acres, a British botanical perfumery that makes products for bath, body and home. She is the daughter of Timothy and Candice Whamond of Stroud, Gloucestershire.

The Christmas Double Issue

Miss Megan Boscawen

Megan is an interiors and decorative artist who specialises in murals and furniture. She is the daughter of David and Clare Boscawen of Sandon, Hertfordshire.

Miss Angelica Hicks

Angelica is a fashion illustrator, stylist and art director, whose parodies of red-carpet looks have won her nearly two million online followers. She is the eldest daughter of Ashley Hicks of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, and Allegra Hicks of South...

Miss Theodora Briggs

Theodora leads the European Fixed Income and Private Markets capital introduction efforts for Morgan Stanley. She is the daughter of Melissa and the late Albert Briggs of Edgehill, Oxfordshire, and is engaged to Edward Mcgovern, whom she will wed in...

Mrs Charlotte Kendall

Charlotte works in private client management at W1M, a wealth and investment manager, and breeds Connemara and New Forest ponies with her sister, Alexandra. She is the daughter of Mary and the late Jack Summerfield of Stoke Trister, Somerset, and...

Miss Katy Hessel

Katy is a writer, broadcaster and the bestselling author of The Story Of Art Without Men. Her new book, How To Live An Artful Life, is out tomorrow (November 6). She writes a fortnightly column for The Guardian and is the daughter of Chris and Susan...

Mrs Emie Diamond

Emie is an art historian and co-founder and curator of TERRA, an annual exhibition in Burgundy, France. She was The Art Newspaper’s Diarist for the 2024 Venice Biennale and holds a Master’s degree from the Courtauld Institute of Art. She is the...

Sir David and Lady Beckham

Our guest editor Sir David and his wife, Victoria, met when he was playing football for Manchester United and she was a member of pop group the Spice Girls. Lady Beckham now heads up her own fashion label, Victoria Beckham, and cosmetics brand Victoria...

Going out in a blaze of glory

‘Slightly bonkers’: Annie Tempest on creating Tottering Give me shelter: Alan Titchmarsh on hedge planting Last bastion of civilisation: life in the London Library

The goddess of small things

Giles Kime salutes the stellar transatlantic career of Rita Konig, a designer whose work is a celebration of stuff

Buy what you love

Families of taste: great collector dynasties On your marks, get steak, go! Britain’s best beef Gallantry at sea and hellraising at West Wycombe

Lady Henrietta Stanley

Lady Henrietta is an associate consultant at a strategy consulting firm and an advocate for endometriosis awareness. She is the daughter of the Earl and Countess of Derby, of Knowsley Hall, Prescot, Lancashire, and will marry Alexander Reviakin at...

Autumn gardens

Exclusive: Alan Titchmarsh’s house for sale Give it some welly with the countryside’s favourite boot Roaring beauties: the thrill of driving a classic car

Country-house treasures

The Royal Mews: a village for horses Queen of Arts: Marie Antoinette’s beautiful world How to make fuchsia sorbet and penny-bun soup

Miss Georgie Hodge

Georgie works in the Country House Department of Knight Frank. She is engaged to Charles Potter, whom she will marry next June at St Mary Magdalene, Barkway, Hertfordshire, and is the daughter of Charles and Jayne Hodge of Therfield, Hertfordshire.

Miss Lydia Rose Medcraft

Lydia is a visual display manager at Chanel, working with the Métiers d’arts training atelier at The King’s Foundation at Highgrove, Gloucestershire. She is the daughter of John Armistead and Carolyn Medcraft of Crowborough, East Sussex.

Mrs Lydia Millen-gordon

Lydia is an author and content creator who celebrates the British countryside. A supporter of The King’s Foundation and The King’s Trust, she is the daughter of Harvey Millen of Northampton and Anna Sophia Millen of Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, and is...

Pure rural joy Brambly Hedge revisited

Where to see orcas in the UK Kitchen confidential: why cooks’ tables are back Fit for a queen: the bee-venom beauty treatment

Miss Emily Graham-campbell

Emily works in retail strategy. She is engaged to Henry Laing, whom she will marry at St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, next April, and is the daughter of Robert and Henrietta Graham-campbell of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire.

Mayor Princess Bright

Princess is a former investment banker and chartered accountant. She served as councillor for Barking and Dagenham for seven years and is now civic mayor, the youngest person to hold the office in the authority. Princess is the daughter of Pastor...

House of prayers:

Canon Andrew Micklefield is engulfed by 2,000 handwritten, animal-shaped prayer cards in the North Transept of Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire. The artwork, created by pupils at church schools in the diocese, is on display until September 8

Miss Harriet Cowan

Harriet is a farmer and an adult district nurse for the NHS, who worked as Jeremy Clarkson’s right hand in the fourth season of Clarkson’s Farm. She is the daughter of Eddy Cowan and Jacqui Mcarthur of Belper, Derbyshire.

Hearts of stone

Join the club: buy a blazer The Venetian Empire and secret Portugal Cod wars and the mighty peregrine returns

Paint to plate: the delicious art you can eat

Ms Jennifer Donohue

Jennifer is a lawyer, archaeologist and mathematician, who advises on corporate insurance, energy and life sciences at Keystone Law. A speaker at the United Nations and the Royal Astronomical Society, she is also the founder of the regenerative...

Miss Katya Churchill

Katya is a lawyer in a London firm, specialising in dispute resolution. She read French at the University of Bristol with a year at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, and holds a Master’s degree in Law. She is the daughter of Sonja Churchill and the late...

Doctor Sophie Ella Louise Bashall

Sophie is a doctor at University College Hospital, London, and is engaged to Julius Morgan-giles, whom she will marry at St Leonard’s Church, Sutton Veny, Wiltshire, in June. She is the daughter of Lieutenant-general James and Sarah-lucie Bashall of...

The West Country issue

Cornwall’s most beautiful beaches and biggest sh Knit picking: how to tell a man by his jumper Sir Cameron Mackintosh’s garden and the new art Masters

It’s showtime

Chelsea preview: must-sees and those gardening stereotypes Glyndebourne, Wow! house and fabulous prawn cocktails Charging elephants: the art of extreme sculpting Beloved ladybirds and Liberty at 150

Mrs Olga Hopkins

Olga Hopkins is a Second World War veteran and Royal British Legion ambassador. Aged 18, she trained as a wireless mechanic at the Royal Technical College in Glasgow and RAF Cranwell, Lincolnshire, before being posted to Wellesbourne Mountford...

1975–2025

The owners and craftsmen bringing houses back to life Coming up roses: the plants that Chelsea launched Maypole merriment, calling cuckoos and pollen detectives

Miss Clementine Pamela Boyle

Clementine is a business strategy consultant at Accenture and is engaged to George Mcallister Cook, whom she will marry at St John the Baptist Church, Hindon, Wiltshire, in May. She is the daughter of Richard Boyle of North Canterbury, New Zealand, and...

The Easter issue

Paths and protests: the truth about rural access Roses and rotas: meet the church flower ladies Tiny villages, big diamonds and the Editor’s Easter quiz

Interiors special

Why real men don’t eat Spam Mind the magpie: superstition in sport The new-look Frick and the saviour of blossom

Mrs Rebecca Metcalfe

Rebecca is an art adviser and interior decorator, who sources rare objects for clients. She is the daughter of Stephen and Katrina Reitman of London NW3 and the wife of Misha Metcalfe, whom she married at Oakley Court, near Windsor, Berkshire, in July...

Miss Lily Bungay

Lily is a photographer specialising in documentary-style family and wedding images. She is the daughter of John and Margerite Bungay of Oxted, Surrey, and is engaged to Martin Richardson, whom she will marry at The Gallivant on Camber Sands, Rye, East...

Glorious gardens

Mad in March: the hare in art and fable Suits you, sir: dressing rules for gentlemen over 60 Lutyens’s best friend and the colourful new Rolls-royce

Miss Philippa Szepietowski

Philippa is reading Classics at Downing College, University of Cambridge, and is the daughter of John and Susan Szepietowski of St George’s Hill, Weybridge, Surrey. A choral scholar, she competes on the University Blues Ski Team and recently undertook...

This precious land How to make the best of it

Smooth operators

Schools: unexpected treasures and the VAT attack Woodpeckers and walking in the wild fells

Kiss a frog, find a prince

Simon Jenkins rails against the march of the pylons Views of Venice and the Revd Gilbert White’s legacy Tarot cards and the true Welsh daffodil

Miss Freda Lewis-stempel

Freda is a motoring reporter for Mailonline, specialising in electric cars and sustainable vehicle technology. She is the daughter of John and Penelope Lewis-stempel. Mr Lewis-stempel is a regular contributor to COUNTRY LIFE.

Travel issue

Right ho! Wodehouse, the master of word music City slickers: the fearless foxes running the streets What your dreams mean and the best London markets

Ms Melica Khansari

Melica is director of communications at Sotheby’s across Europe and the Middle East, looking after the campaigns for fine-art sales, books, manuscripts and special single-owner collections. She is married to Jasper Done and is the daughter of Mo...

They’ve got charm

Which commuter character are you? Ripping yarns: Jane Austen’s shocking legacy Marmalade secrets and the wizard quizmaster

Totally tropical

How to save your box hedge Constitution of an ox: the cows with pulling power Royal wave: meet the glove-maker to royalty

And did those feet

Incredible journeys: why animals know the way home Keep warm: Tom Parker Bowles’s hotpot and the best stoves Heavenly hellebores and the Brueghel family tree explained

Miss Serena Ansell

Serena is the founder of Serena Ansell Fine Jewellery, a ready-to-wear and bespoke brand, and is engaged to Oliver Wilson, whom she will marry at St John the Baptist Church, Burford, Oxfordshire, in May. She is the daughter of Harry Ansell of Burford,...

We will remember them

Queen Mary: not so contrary after all Why you should give your dog a bone A hill farmer’s diary and the rst bobble hats

The Christmas Double Issue

The Full English

Paul Smith᾽s Christmas tree Left it until the last minute? The Editor᾽s present ideas The new movers and shakers of the art world

Ms Lara Robinson

Lara is an Impressionist-style artist, who works with oil paints on canvas and has recently focused on sports subjects, including racing, Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire and the Cresta Run in St Moritz, Switzerland. She is married to Tom Turner and...

Winston Churchill

Knock down or rebuild? Restoration puzzles solved How to write like Lear and the sewing-machine revolution

Miss Francesca Rose Cressida Churchill

Francesca holds a Masters in Geopolitics, Territory and Security from King’s College London and works for the civil service. She is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the daughter of Sonja Churchill of London SW15 and the late Paul Churchill.

Miss Coco Brocklehurst and Ms Annika Purdey

Annika, of Sussex, sits on the James Purdey & Sons board as a non-executive director and is a contributing editor to Tatler. Her daughter, Coco, recently graduated from Newcastle University, where she read Geography.

Alan Titchmarsh’s garden

When Britain bought the world’s best art Have I got news for you? How dogs communicate Ghost orchids, Blue Peter and Thankful Villages

Miss Tatiana Reed

Tatiana is an automative influencer who documents her travels in a Land Rover. She is the daughter of Andrew Reed of West Sussex and Sarah Reed of Buckinghamshire.

Holyrood:

Meat and no veg: Britain’s carnivorous plants Scratch and sniff: dogs with a nose for Nature

Master avian builder:

a Bushy Park jackdaw stars in Precious Rocks by Samuel Stone, highly commended in the 2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, on display at the Natural History Museum (October 11–June 29, 2025; www.nhm.ac.uk)

Of tide and time

Chitty-chitty-bang-bang we love you Between the sheets: ‘Who’s been sleeping in my bed?’ A brush with history: Rubens, van Dyck and West

The US issue

Nature’s arteries: the art of hedge-laying Scary ladies: when highwaywomen ruled our roads