The silk created in her businesses has been used by British Royalty including the wedding dresses of Queen Elizabeth II and Diana, Princess of Wales.

Millicent Zoe Bond was born in Leyton but by the age of four she was living in Poole in Dorset, where she developed an interest in silk worms.

[2] Oliver Hart Dyke became an engineer and in 1931 upon his father's death inherited the family home and the baronetcy.

In the 1950s Oliver and his second wife returned to the Lullingstone estate where the emphasis was creating a new tourist business unrelated to silk.

[1] Dyke's company created silk for the coronation robe of King George VI; other important royal commissions included the wedding dress of Princess Elizabeth, the coronation robes of Elizabeth II,[3] and the wedding dress of Lady Diana Spencer.