Portrait of a lady: the remarkable story of my godmother, the ‘last marchioness’

With its glittering cast of writers, painters, sportsmen and the ‘horrible’ upper class friends of her wealthy parents, hers was a gilded and privileged childhood. She married into the aristocracy, befriended David Hockney and survived devastating personal tragedy. Not that any of it impressed Lindy Dufferin, recalls Harry Mount

Lindy Dufferin on her beloved Clandeboye estate in 2019 (Paul McErlane/Alamy)

I often asked my dear godmother, the Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava (1941-2020), about her extraordinary upbringing.

What a gilded youth it was, as the daughter of Loel Guinness – a financier, MP and Battle of Britain pilot – and granddaughter of the Duke of Rutland.

The great American golfer Ben Hogan gave her golf lessons. Jacques Cousteau taught her to scuba dive, with baby aqualungs. Truman Capote befriended her as a little girl. “He was so wicked – I loved him,” Lindy said.