[3][10] Her paternal great-grandfather, Wing-Commander Eric Huntington-Whiteley, JP, was the nephew of George Whiteley, 1st Baron Marchamley and the younger son of politician Sir Herbert Huntington-Whiteley, 1st Baronet; Eric's wife, Rosie's great-grandmother, Enid Etta Cohn,[7] was from a family of Polish Jews who emigrated to England in the 1870s.

[11] Rosie's paternal grandmother, Gillian, also from a Jewish family, was the daughter of surgeon Jacob Franks, of West Chiltington, Sussex.

[11] Educated at Tavistock College, she later revealed that she was bullied and teased at school for having a double-barrelled name, small breasts and full lips.

[2][12] As a 15-year-old student, she undertook work experience at London West End-based model agency Profile, before taking her GCSEs.

[13] She later made her catwalk debut alongside Naomi Campbell in New York City in Spring 2004,[13] and was then photographed by Bruce Weber for Abercrombie & Fitch.

[15][16] Huntington-Whiteley remained unknown outside the fashion industry until 2008, when she was cast by chief creative director Christopher Bailey, replacing Agyness Deyn for Burberry's Autumn/Winter campaign with actor Sam Riley.

[20] She starred in a short film for Agent Provocateur lingerie, playing a woman whose boyfriend forgets Valentine's Day.

[24] She confirmed the following year that she wouldn't walk the show, and has since stated that she left Victoria's Secret to pursue other opportunities, as she was "well aware of the short shelf-life a model has".

[26][27] For SS10 her advertising campaigns included Monsoon's first underwear line, Thomas Wylde, Full Circle, and VS Online.

[30] For FW10 she modelled for Burberry as well as the company's first beauty line;[31] her other advertising campaigns included Thomas Wylde and Leon Max.

[22][32] In May 2010, it was announced that Huntington-Whiteley would become the new female lead in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, released 29 June 2011, replacing Megan Fox.

[36] Jason Solomons of The Observer wrote that "we're first introduced to Rosie via a close-up of her bum, segueing straight from the film's opening sequence and titles on to the pert buttocks and underwear of our heroine", and that Huntington-Whiteley's English posh girl accent "renders her practically unintelligible when surrounded by American accents and falling masonry".

[37] In a positive review, Drew McWeeny of HitFix said, "She reminds me of Cameron Diaz in The Mask, an actress who doesn't really show off any range, but who gives a natural, winning performance and who is up to the challenge of this particular picture.

"[39] Celebrity make-up artist Ruby Hammer, who has worked with Huntington-Whiteley for years, described her as the "quintessential" English rose.

[43][44] In 2013, Huntington-Whiteley starred alongside Helena Bonham Carter and David Gandy in the Marks & Spencer Christmas advert.