James Ogilvy


James Robert Bruce Ogilvy is a British landscape designer, and the founder and editor of Luxury Briefing. He is the elder child and only son of Sir Angus Ogilvy and Princess Alexandra of Kent.

Early life and family

Ogilvy was born in Thatched House Lodge, Richmond Park, Surrey and was the first of four children born to royalty in 1964. Ogilvy was baptised by Arthur Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, with Queen Elizabeth II among his seven godparents. When he was born, he was 13th in the line of succession to the British throne. As of January 2020, he is 54th.

Education and professional life

His education began in the "palace school" with his cousins Prince Edward and Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones. Subsequently, Ogilvy attended Gibbs pre-prep and Heatherdown Preparatory School. After that, Ogilvy and Prince Edward went separate ways, the prince to Gordonstoun and Cambridge, and Ogilvy to Eton College and the University of St Andrews. From St. Andrews, he earned a Scottish Master of Arts degree in History of art. He then attended the full-time MBA course at Cranfield from 1990 to 1991, obtaining the MBA qualification.
He worked for Barclays de Zoete Wedd and then a shipping agency in Edinburgh.
He is the publisher and founder of Luxury Briefing, a magazine launched in 1996, and has served on numerous boards of directors.
Ogilvy is also a professional photographer and landscape designer.

Personal life

He married Julia Caroline Rawlinson on 30 July 1988 at St Mary's Church in Saffron Walden, Essex. The couple have two children:
He is also a godfather of Princess Eugenie, the younger daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York.
In 1997, while on holiday in Florida with his wife and children, he swam out into the ocean and was bitten by a shark. Shark attacks in Florida had reached a record 29 in 1995, but had fallen to 13 in 1996. In 1997, there had "only" been five attacks in the world, two of which occurred in the state of Florida, according to a marine expert at the University of Florida, quoted in The Times which reported the attack on Ogilvy. Ogilvy had several leg wounds and required 30 stitches.

Ancestry and succession

His maternal grandparents were Prince George, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George V; and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. Princess Marina was the daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. He has a younger sister, Marina Ogilvy.
In addition to being fifty-fourth in line for the throne through his mother, he is seventh in line, through his father, to the Earldom of Airlie, being a nephew of the current Earl.