Isobel Jane Miller Percy, Duchess of Northumberland, DCVO (née Richard; born 11 May 1958), is a British aristocrat and businesswoman.

[citation needed] Her parents divorced in the early 1970s and both remarried; her stepmother Christine was a Conservative group leader on the City of Edinburgh Council,[6][7] while her stepfather was Sir Ninian Buchan-Hepburn, 6th Baronet (1922–1992).

As a child, Jane Richard helped her mother maintain Kailzie Gardens[8] and aspired to become a champion figure-skater, practicing for the Scottish Junior Championships at Murrayfield Ice Rink.

[8] The locals welcomed the restoration and the influx of tourists,[18] while English Heritage accused the Duchess of destroying one of the greatest gardens in England.

[15] She has also arranged for a series of books and titles to be brought out based on the Alnwick Castle archive covering aspects of the life and history of the Percy family estate.

[19] On 12 May 2009, having been recommended by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, she was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland by Queen Elizabeth II.

[20] The post was once held by her father-in-law Hugh, 10th Duke, and eleven other members of the Percy family, but the Duchess is the first woman to receive this distinction.