She was born to John Robert Emerson (Weardale, County Durham, 1920–1994) and wife Mary Elizabeth Graham (Chester, Cheshire, 1922–).
She gained a BA in printed textiles at Liverpool College of Art, then later moved into the world of costume design, working for the RSC, the BBC and the Royal Opera House and teaching at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School where she met her future husband.
[1] Portland Hats was started in 2002 and re-branded in 2004 to Judy Bentinck Millinery to 'emphasize the exclusivity of her product'.
Housed at Cockpit Arts Studios in Holborn, Judy creates a Spring/Summer and an Autumn/Winter Collection each year, but the majority of her work is bespoke, by commission.
The former Judy Emerson married the actor Tim Bentinck, who later became 12th Earl of Portland, in London on 8 September 1979; the couple has two sons: