[3] Born in London, Janet (generally known by her middle name, Bronwen) was raised in Hampstead, which was then in the county of Middlesex.

After the sudden death of a friend in 1951, she embarked on an inner journey of self-discovery culminating in 1959 in a profound mystical experience.

She was muse to Pierre Balmain, the Parisian couturier, who said she was one of the world's most beautiful women along with Greta Garbo, Vivien Leigh and Marlene Dietrich.

Upon her marriage, Bronwen became the mistress of Cliveden House, the mansion which her mother-in-law had made famous with her political salons.

Together, they were the parents of:[5] Within three years of her marriage Bronwen's world was turned upside down by the infamous Profumo affair, which brought down Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's government.