Background
She was born in Kew, Victoria as Zara Kate Dickins.
She was born in Kew, Victoria as Zara Kate Dickins.
She was educated at Ruyton Girls" School and Toorak College.
Her first husband was Colonel James Fell, by whom she had three sons, Nicholas (1937) and twins Sam and Andrew (1939). Their marriage broke down soon after the birth of the twins. Tom Frame"s biography The Life and Death of Harold Holt reveals that Holt was the twins" biological father.
When Menzies retired in January 1966, Holt became Prime Minister.
Zara brought a new style and prominence to the role of prime minister"s wife. In December 1967, Harold Holt drowned and his body was never recovered.
Zara Holt was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen"s Birthday Honours of June 1968, for "devotion to the public interest". In 1968 Dame Zara published My Life and Harry: An autobiography.
She then became known as Dame Zara Bate.
lieutenant was the third marriage for both of them. In the early 1970s, Dame Zara promoted Maxwell House instant coffee in television commercials. After Jeff Bate"s death in 1984, Dame Zara retired to the Gold Coast, where she died in 1989 at age 80.
Harold Holt was a member of Robert Menzies" Cabinet continuously from 1949, becoming deputy Liberal leader in 1956 and Treasurer in 1958. On 19 February 1969, Dame Zara Holt married Jeff Bate, a farmer, Liberal politician and member of the Bate family of Tilba, New South Wales.