The first member of the Royal Family to speak openly about being diagnosed with autism recently revealed that she has started studying for a PhD.
Flora Vesterberg (nee Ogilvy), who is 62nd in line to the throne, is the granddaughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin, Princess Alexandra.
While her ties to the Royal Family are relatively low-key, Flora has appeared on the balcony for the Trooping the Colour alongside the rest of her extended family in the past, and often makes an appearance at royal weddings.
She attended Lady Gabriella Windsor’s wedding to Thomas Kingston in May 2019, although she didn’t make the guest list for Prince Harry‘s wedding to Meghan Markle the year prior.
Flora was among the royal mourners at the September 2022 funeral for the late Queen Elizabeth. Most recently, she was seen attending the Duchess of Kent’s funeral at Westminster Abbey last month.
The thrice great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, already has an impressive set of academic accolades under her belt, including a master’s degree from The Courtauld Institute of Art, where she earlier this year, she joined the Campaign Board, a circle of prominent philanthropists and advisors tasked with raising £50million for the transformation of the Somerset House campus.
And now, she is adding another academic achievement, undertaking a PhD at The Courtauld.
Sharing the news in a recent post on Instagram, the 30-year-old said: ‘Im looking forward to beginning my PhD at [The Courtauld] this month.
Flora Vesterberg (pictured), who is 62nd in line to the throne, is the granddaughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin, Princess Alexandra
‘My focus will be on elevating Nordic Impressionism and so I’ll be spending more time in Scandinavia. As my research evolves, I’ll share more about my findings and the process itself.’
Flora is known for commitment to education, and co-chairs the Young Patrons’ Circle of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
In addition, she lectures at esteemed institutions, including Sotheby’s Institute of Art, specialising in modern and contemporary art.
As well as her royal ties and educational work, Flora is known for being the first royal to write candidly and openly about being diagnosed with autism.
Earlier this year, she opened up about the diagnosis in a deeply intimate essay published in British Vogue, calling it ‘unexpectedly empowering’.
She detailed her struggles battling ‘the challenges of neurodiversity’ during her formative years, and said the diagnosis has brought ‘a sense of relief as well as validation’.
In 2020, Flora’s royal lineage was underscored by her marriage to Timothy Vesterberg at The Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace, the very venue where Queen Victoria wed Prince Albert in 1840.
Exactly one year later, the couple staged a more public marriage blessing at the chapel, with a host of royals in attendance.
Part of the Windsor family tree, showing the young Windsor cousins, including Flora Vesterberg (nee Ogilvy)
Born in Edinburgh, she and her younger brother, Alexander, grew up in a 1780s country house on the east coast of Scotland.
Flora attended the co-educational Rugby School in Warwickshire, studying English, French and Fine Art at A-level, before graduating with a degree in Art History from the University of Bristol.
She is the granddaughter of Princess Alexandra, who was first cousin cousin to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
It is a side of the family that has been marked by tragedy: Princess Alexandra is the daughter of George, Duke of Kent, Queen Elizabeth’s uncle, who was killed in an air crash in 1942.
Princess Alexandra married Sir Angus Ogilvy in 1963 – and Ogilvy is Flora’s maiden name. She is the eldest child and only daughter of James Ogilvy and Julia Caroline Rawlinson. James, her father is the son of son of Princess Alexandra and Sir Angus Ogilvy.
In addition to working as an art curator, speaker, lecturer, and writer, Flora is also the founder of the art website Arteviste, which she started in 2015, in an effort to ‘make the contemporary art market more accessible.’ The platform organises and hosts artist talks, panels and supper clubs in partnership with brands and connects them to this important area of the art market.
Alongside her editorial platform, she has givns art talks for Gagosian, Sotheby’s Institute, Frieze Art Fair, Soho House and Burberry, as well as giving lectures at Cambridge University.
Flora lives with her husband Timothy Vesterberg, 29, in London, where he works as a director of a private equity investment firm. Formerly a professional ice hockey player in his native Sweden, the blonde Swede is a regular fixture on Flora’s Instagram page since they got together in May of 2019.
The royal (pictured at Royal Ascot 2022) said she is ‘looking forward to beginning my PhD’ in a post on Instagram
They were introduced to one another by their best man Alexander Danielsson, who the bride had met in Paris during an internship for Sotheby’s. Timothy visited an exhibition that Flora had curated at Connolly and conversation struck between the pair over an ink drawing by Alba Hodsoll, according to Vogue, and the rest was history.
The couple are believed to have had somewhat of a whirlwind romance after meeting and announced their engagement in November 2019. Sharing the news of her engagement on Instagram, she posted: ‘We’re engaged! My beloved Timothy asked me to marry him and we’re blissfully happy.’
Flora affectionately calls her fiancé ‘my lovely Swede’ on her Instagram captions, with the two enjoying travels across Germany and Devon since getting together.
The art curator originally tied the knot with the Swedish financier in September 2020 with the couple exchanging vows in a private ceremony at St James’s Palace amidst strict Covid restrictions.
However, the couple were joined by friends and family at St James in September as their marriage was blessed, with guests including Prince Edward and the Duchess of Edinburgh as well as Lord Frederick Windsor and his Peep Show actress wife Sophie Winkleman.
Her royal links came to the fore once more following the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022, when she shared photo of her grandmother alongside Her Majesty online, and accompanied it with heartfelt tribute to the late monarch.
‘Our last few days have been sorrowful as we mourn the sudden loss of our beloved Queen. As she devoted herself to her responsibilities, she always led with love and understanding from which all of us can learn. I will always remember her remarkable joie de vivre and the sparkle in her eyes whenever she spoke,’ Flora penned.
She is also seemingly close to Lady Amelia Windsor, a cousin of Prince William and Prince Harry, as she’s posted multiple photos of her on social media.
As the granddaughter of a princess, she is a member of the royal family but does not, however, have her own title.