Sacha Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn

Alexandra Anastasia Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn, (; 27 February 1946 – 10 December 2018), usually known by family and friends as Sacha Abercorn,

Early life Born Alexandra Anastasia Phillips in Tucson, Arizona, in 1946, Her paternal grandparents were Colonel Joseph Harold John Phillips and Mary Mercedes Bryce, daughter of John Pablo Bryce. Her maternal grandparents were Sir Harold Wernher, 3rd Bt, and Countess Anastasia de Torby, morganatic daughter of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia. Through the countess, she and her siblings claimed descent from the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin and his great-grandfather, the Afro-Russian courtier Abram Petrovich Hannibal. Sacha, as she was known to friends and family, had a younger brother and three younger sisters, including Marita Crawley and Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster. In June 1979, James succeeded his father as 5th Duke of Abercorn and moved to the family seat, Baronscourt, near Newtownstewart in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Following a private funeral, she was buried at Baronscourt Parish Church, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. A memorial service was held at St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, on 30 May 2019, which was attended by the Duke of York.

Philanthropy and public roles A trained psychologist, she ran workshops throughout Ireland and Great Britain. She was honorary secretary of the Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma & Transformation in Omagh, County Tyrone. Her work in Omagh was in response to the 1998 Omagh bombing.

Honours National honours 14 June 2008: Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) 11 November 1991: Officer (Sister) of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (OStJ)

Academic honours 2003: Honorary Doctorate from the University of Ulster

Miscellaneous honours 2006: Princess Grace Humanitarian Award

Ancestry