Nicolette Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry


Nicolette Elaine Katherine Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry, formerly Nicolette Harrison, later Nicolette Powell, was the first wife of Alistair Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 9th Marquess of Londonderry, and later the wife of musician Georgie Fame.

Early life

Nicolette, often called "Nico" for short, was the daughter of stockbroker Michael Harrison and his wife, the former Maria Madeleine Benita von Koskull, a Latvian baroness. She was a debutante, one of the last to be presented to Queen Elizabeth II before the practice was abolished.

Marriage and family

She married the marquess on 16 May 1958, when she was seventeen. They made their home at Wynyard Hall and had two children:
The paternity of her elder son, Tristan Alexander, who briefly held the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh, was contested when he was about 18 months old, and he was confirmed to be the son of Georgie Fame, with whom the marchioness had been having an extramarital relationship. One of the marchioness's daughters, Lady Cosima, later claimed that her true father might be musician and writer Robin Douglas-Home.
The 1971 divorce of the marquess and marchioness was the subject of considerable publicity. The following year, the marchioness married Georgie Fame at Marylebone Register Office, and her married name became Nicolette Powell. The marquess subsequently married ballerina Doreen Wells.
As Nicolette Powell, the former marchioness gave birth to a second son, James Michael, in 1973.

Later life

In 1993, she died after falling from Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. Her death was registered as suicide. She had left a note stating that she saw "no purpose in life" now that her children had grown up and left home.
Several portrait photographs of her are held by the National Portrait Gallery, London.