Sir Michael Duff, the bon vivant and society figure, was the son of Sir Robin Duff, 2nd Bt, of Vaynol, and his wife Lady Juliet Lowther, only child of the 4th Earl of Lonsdale and his wife Lady Gwladys Herbert (later Marchioness of Ripon).

Family and Court Connections

His maternal grandmother was a sister of the 13th and 14th Earls of Pembroke & Montgomery, and a daughter of the Rt. Hon. Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea, the half-Russian yr son of the 10th Earl of Pembroke, and a good friend to Florence Nightingale.

Sir Michael Duff was a godson of Mary of Teck (queen of King George V), and a close relative of several aristocratic families. Among his relatives was his maternal aunt, Lady Diana Cooper (nee Manners).

He was twice married, secondly to Lady Caroline Paget (d. 1976), eldest daughter of the 6th Marquess of Anglesey and his wife Lady Marjorie Manners, eldest daughter of the 8th Duke of Rutland. By her, he had 1 son Charles Duff.

The Duff Estate

The Vaynol estate, in northern Wales, close to the Anglesey estate at Plas Newydd, appears to have passed out of Duff family hands. This came into the family via Mary Assheton-Smith, niece and heiress of the famous squire Assheton-Smith.