[4] As a child, Sophie frequently spent time at both her maternal and paternal grandparents' houses in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, and East Preston, West Sussex, respectively.
[12] She was a contributor to an anthology, Truth or Dare, edited by Justine Picardie, which included works by Zoë Heller and William Fiennes.
[13] She also provided introductions to the Puffin Classic new edition of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett,[14] and the Virago Press re-issue of Stella Gibbons' 1938 novel Nightingale Wood – both released in April 2009 – and Nancy Mitford's Don't Tell Alfred, reissued by Penguin in March 2010.
[16] Dahl was a contributing editor at British magazine Vogue for a decade, writing about subjects from cultural identity and the journey of refugees to Britain[17] to the Proustian response to scent, winning a Jasmine Award for her column.
[18] She is a contributing editor at Condé Nast Traveller, and has written essays for amongst others, The Guardian,[19] the American edition of Vogue, The Observer[20] and The New York Times Magazine.
[29] The following year she made her debut on the catwalk at Lainey Keogh's London fashion week show, modelling Autumn/Winter knitwear.
[30] She went on to appear in advertising campaigns for Versace, Alexander McQueen, Boucheron, Pringle, Godiva, Banana Republic, Gap and Boodles amongst others.
[41] Dahl's paternal grandparents were the actor Stanley Holloway and his wife, Violet (née Lane), a former chorus dancer.
[42] Dahl's paternal lineage has been associated with the stage since at least 1850; Charles Bernard (1830–1894), a great-uncle to Stanley Holloway, was a Shakespearean actor and theatre manager in London and the English provinces.