Amanda Cottrell, OBE
About Amanda Cottrell, OBE :
Great Britain’s Goodwill Ambassador for Kent Tourism, Food and Wine Expert; High Sheriff of Kent; International Affairs; Descendent of the Howard Lineage
In January 2011, Amanda was awarded an OBE by HRH Queen Elizabeth.
Amanda Cottrell was born in 1941 into the Howard family, Dukes of Norfolk, the oldest Catholic family in England. The Howards feature prominently throughout English history - many of them beheaded! Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke was Uncle to two of Henry VIII’s unfortunate wives, Anne Boleyn and Catharine Howard, and therefore great-uncle to Elizabeth I.
Amanda was born and bred in the 12th century castle, Greystoke Castle, in the Lake District (reputedly the home of Tarzan, as his Father was Lord Greystoke. The film “Greystoke” about Tarzan was filmed there.) Her mother was Virginian whose family were the Neville’s, Earls of Warwick (Warwick the Kingmaker.) One of the younger sons went to Virginia in about 1613 and grew cotton and tobacco in the Rappahannock region of the State and was prominent in the area.
Amanda was educated in France and Switzerland, finishing her studies by going to Boston, Massachusetts as an art student at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts. She is a painter and calligrapher by training and speaks several European languages. She has 4 children and 9 grandchildren and was widowed in 1996. A passionate gardener, ornithologist, botanist and entomologist, she is very involved in the community currently serving as Kent Ambassador, Magistrate, Trustee of Canterbury Cathedral, President of the Girl Guides Association, Trustee of the Kent Wildlife Trust and Patron of Produced in Kent. She is the former High Sheriff of Kent 2006/2007, and is the only woman to ever serve as High Sheriff. She is Chairman of Visit Kent - Kent Tourism and local president of the English-Speaking Union.
Kent’s involvement with Virginia is one of her great passions, and she was thrilled to be invited by the Commonwealth to join them as participants in the 2007 Smithsonian Festival in the Roots of Virginia Culture program and the 400th Anniversary Celebrations in Jamestown. Amanda travels frequently to Virginia, most recently on tour with the Choir of Canterbury Cathedral.
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