Tania Rosamund Harcourt-Cooze (née Coleridge) (b 22 January 1966) is an English former model and actress. [1]
The daughter of Major William Duke Coleridge, 5th Baron Coleridge of Ottery St Mary, a Major in the Coldstream Guards, and his first wife Everild Tania Hambrough, she is directly related to the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The oldest of five children, by her father's first marriage she has a brother, James Duke Coleridge (b 1967) and a sister, Sophia Tamsin Coleridge (b 1970).
Born in Kenya,[2] she followed he fathers British Army career until her parents divorced in 1977 when she was 11. By his second marriage, she has two stepsisters, Vanessa Leyla Coleridge (b 1978) and Katharine Suzannah Coleridge (b 1981).
Completing a fine arts diploma in London, she joined the punk rock revolution, and would hang out on the King’s Road, Chelsea.
Spotted by Sarah Doukas, she dispatched her in 1986 to model for Armani and Versace in Italy, and she became a muse for Helmut Newton.[2] She starred opposite the singer George Michael in the video for Father Figure, inspired by Newton.
After moving to Los Angeles, California, for modelling work, she ended up running a fashionable restaurant.[2]
Having met Willie Harcourt-Cooze in her late teens,[2] she married the Venezuelan-based businessman in 1996. Using the funds from the sale of his London flat and his families money, the couple purchased a 1,000 acres (400 ha) cocoa hacienda in Choroni, and planted more than 50,000 criollo cacao trees.[1][3][4] After being falsely accused of exploiting locals, they were investigated by the regime of Hugo Chavez and temporarily mothballed the farm.
Returning to England, she took over the management of the The Chanter's House, the family's ancestral home in March 2002. The couple set-up events management company Kubla Khan, through which to organise weddings, fashion shoots, residential art courses, exhibitions, house tours and cultural gatherings based through the house.[1]
In October 2006 the increasing costs of maintaining the property caused the family trust to put the property up for sale and auction the contents. [5][6][7]
She came to public prominence again in 2008 with the airing of the fly-on-the-wall documentary, Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory, centered on her husband's efforts to be one of the first Britons since the Cadbury family to grow, import and produce their own chocolate. [8][4]
She lives in Tiverton, Devon with her husband William (Willie) Harcourt-Cooze. The couple have three children - Sophia, William and Eve. [1][9][8][3][10][11]
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