Lady Helen Taylor, daughter of the Duke of Kent, makes rare public outing with her sons at Frieze London

A family reunion was on the cards as Lady Helen Taylor, daughter of the Duke of Kent, stepped out with her two sons, Cassius and Columbus, at the Frieze Art Fair 2026 VIP Preview in London.

Dressed in a laid-back autumnal ensemble, featuring a black A-line skirt, checked jacket and black-and-white scarf, Lady Helen appeared in excellent spirits as she posed for photos with her children. Cassius Taylor, 29, and his older brother, Columbus, 32, tend to keep a low profile but made a rare public foray to join their mother at the art-world event.

It’s been a busy few weeks for Lady Helen Taylor. In September, she joined her husband, Timothy Taylor, for a gala reception at Somerset House. The couple celebrated the landmark exhibition ‘Reviving Craft: Reflection of the Mind’, joining Peregrine Armstrong-Jones, Yang Lan and Bruno Wu at a dinner and tour of the show, which traces China's art and craft heritage through history. Later that month, Lady Helen and her daughter, Estella Taylor, joined members of the royal family including the Duke of Kent and Prince Michael of Kent at a charity concert commemorating the anniversary of the death of the Duchess of Kent. Most recently, Lady Helen Taylor supported her friend Clodagh McKenna at the launch of her new book.

Few royals bridge the gap between fashion and art quite like Lady Helen. After falling in love with art at Gordonstoun, she moved to London and took up a job in the contemporary department of Christie’s in 1984. Between 1987 and 1991, she worked behind the front desk for the art dealer Kardsten Schubert, a role in which she later earned credit for discovering Rachel Whiteread and Gary Hume – though she admitted in an interview that she turned down Damien Hirst.

Her most important working relationship, however, would be with the late fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who dressed Lady Helen Taylor for much of her adult life. ‘By the late ’80s, when I was in my mid-20s, I remember thinking my style had veered too far down one path, and it was time to rein it in (did I really need to wear so many puffball skirts?)’ she reminisced in British Vogue following the designer’s death.

Soon, she would be an Armani ambassador, joining ‘Mr Armani’, as Lady Helen always referred to him, on front rows around the world. ‘We were in Paris for the opening of an Armani café somewhere in Saint-Germain and at the dinner afterwards, Mr Armani, Karl Lagerfeld and I had to climb over a table to reach our seats, which the two legendary designers found hilarious,’ she recalled of one afterparty. ‘It might have been the most animated I’d ever seen him at a party.’

When Lady Helen tied the knot with her art dealer husband at St George’s Chapel in 1992, tradition dictated that she must wear a British designer for the occasion. She opted for Catherine Walker, but on a visit to Via Borgonuovo, she watched on as Armani picked out her ‘going away’ dress and a mint-green ensemble for the Duchess of Kent.

After decades of working alongside Armani (who addressed her as ‘Cara Helena’), the pair went their separate ways in 2008. Lady Helen would spend her time working with clients of her husband’s gallery, taking them out for lunches at Le Caprice and The Ivy, as well as raising her children: Columbus, Cassius, Elosie, and Estella.

‘When I married Tim, I felt my job was to be there for him,’ she explained in The Standard. ‘I was and am his support. When we had the children, my role extended to being a wife and a mother and everything that entails. It is a full-time job.’

With London’s art calendar at its peak this month, royal watchers can expect to see Lady Helen out and about, bringing her characteristic glamour and expertise to the city’s most cultural events.