Background
Born Diana Ruth McConnel in Woolwich, she was the only daughter of Major-General Douglas McConnel, an instructor at the Royal Military Academy, and his wife Ruth Mary (née Garnett-Botfield). She resolved not to marry a military man after living apart from her father, though she did live happily with her parents in India for two years. She lived in Jerusalem when her father was stationed there.
She worked as a secretary for the military in the King David Hotel and served often as her father"s Aide-de-camp.
lieutenant was there that she met Valerian Wellesley, who in 1943 became Marquess of Douro when his father, then Lord Gerald Wellesley, inherited the Dukedom of Wellington from his nephew.
