Rufus Arnold Alexis Keppel, 10th Earl of Albemarle, is a British designer.
Early life and education
Albemarle is the son of Derek William Charles Keppel, Viscount Bury, and his second wife, the former Marina Davidoff, a daughter of Count Serge Orloff-Davidoff. Since his father predeceased his grandfather, the 9th Earl of Albemarle, Keppel succeeded to the Earldom at the age of fourteen on the death of his paternal grandfather in 1979. He is known professionally as Rufus Albemarle. Keppel's early life was spent living with his parents successively in England and Italy. He was educated at St. Christopher School in Hertfordshire and Chelsea School of Art in London as well as Central St Martins School of Art & Design. Worked as industrial designer in Milan and graphic & branding designer in New York where he later founded a men's-shirt company Albemarle of London. now residing in the United Kingdom.
Marriage and child
The Earl of Albemarle married Sally Claire Tadayon, a sculptor of Danish and Persian ancestry, in 2001 in Havana, Cuba. Tom Ford of Yves St Laurent designed the bride's gown and the wedding was featured in Town & Country and Vanity Fair. Now divorced, they have one child, who is heir apparent to the earldom:
Augustus Sergei Darius Keppel, Viscount Bury, born in 2003.
Through his grandmother, Lord Albemarle has a one twentieth share in the succession for the office of Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State in England and Wales. His great-grandfather, the 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire, held a quarter share in the Office and was Lord Great Chamberlain from the accession of George V until his death in 1928. His only son, Viscount Wendover, had been killed in action in 1915, so this quarter share was equally divided among his five daughters and their heirs, each holding one fifth of Lord Lincolnshire's quarter share in the office i.e. each held one twentieth share. Lord Albermarle has held his one twentieth share since his father's death.
