By RICHARD EDEN DIARY EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL and MEGAN HOWE

Published: 01:51 GMT, 11 December 2024 | Updated: 02:02 GMT, 11 December 2024

Beauty executive Demetra Pinsent has quit as director of Prince William and Kate’s Royal Foundation after eight years.

It has, in its time, been able to call upon the expertise of such disparate figures as ‘Steel Magnolia’ divorce lawyer Baroness (Fiona) Shackleton and former SAS officer-turned-courtier Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton.

But the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales must now learn to live without the high-octane talents of Demetra Pinsent, wife of legendary rower Sir Matthew Pinsent, gold medalist at four successive Olympic games. 

I can disclose that she has just stood down after eight years as one of the foundation’s trustees.

But there’s no chance of Demetra, 50, resting on her laurels. 

Beauty executive Demetra Pinsent (pictured at the King's Trust 2024 Global Gala) has quit as director of Prince William and Kate's Royal Foundation after eight years

Beauty executive Demetra Pinsent (pictured at the King’s Trust 2024 Global Gala) has quit as director of Prince William and Kate’s Royal Foundation after eight years

Canada-born Demetra, whose ancestry is Greek, met Pinsent at Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, following in the footsteps of former U.S. President Bill Clinton

Canada-born Demetra, whose ancestry is Greek, met Pinsent at Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, following in the footsteps of former U.S. President Bill Clinton

Canada-born Demetra, whose ancestry is Greek, met Pinsent at Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, following in the footsteps of former U.S. President Bill Clinton

A cerebral as well as glamorous figure – she was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford where she met Pinsent – she remains chief executive of Charlotte Tilbury’s beauty empire, four years after Spanish firm Puig acquired a majority stake in a deal which valued the British company at £1.3billion.

Canada-born Demetra, whose ancestry is Greek, met Pinsent at Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, following in the footsteps of former U.S. President Bill Clinton. 

Matthew was coaching the Oxford women’s Boat Race eights in 1998.

While Pinsent went on to win four consecutive Olympic gold medals, as well as ten world championship golds, during his distinguished career, Demetra completed her studies at America’s prestigious Harvard University.

The pair married in 2002 and together they have three children. 

Demetra became a partner at leading management consultant McKinsey & Co, before leaving in 2012 to help transform celebrity make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury into a global brand.

‘I knew I had met my perfect match in Charlotte,’ Demetra previously said.

‘She is as ambitious, determined and opinionated as I am, yet complementary to me in the way she thinks about opportunities.’ 

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RICHARD EDEN: Beauty executive Demetra Pinsent quits as director of Prince William and Kate’s Royal Foundation

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