She married into the Seagram fortune, raised two daughters later caught up in the NXIVM case, and is now the wife of actor Nigel Havers. Much of what is written about her online is wrong.
Georgiana Bronfman is married to the actor Nigel Havers, and the most repeated claim about her is false. She is not the widow of Seagram billionaire Edgar Bronfman. The two married, divorced, married each other again, then divorced for good. By the time Bronfman died in 2013, his widow was his fourth wife, Jan Aronson, and Georgiana had been married to Havers for six years.
The widow mix-up is one error among many. Her age, her birth name and the way her marriages ended all come out garbled across dozens of near-identical pages. Here is what holds up to checking.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Born | Rita Eileen Webb, Essex, around 1950 |
| Known as | Georgiana (“George”) Bronfman |
| First husband | Edgar Bronfman Sr (married 1975; divorced, remarried, divorced again) |
| Daughters | Sara Bronfman (1976) and Clare Bronfman (1979) |
| Current husband | Actor Nigel Havers (married 2007) |
| Age in 2026 | Mid-seventies |
Table of Contents
From an Essex pub to the Bronfman name
She was born Rita Eileen Webb, around 1950, the daughter of Barry and Eileen Webb, who ran a country pub in Essex called the Ye Olde Nosebag. She changed her first name to Georgiana before she married Edgar Bronfman in 1975, at the age of 25. She was his third wife, and she converted to Judaism. The couple had met in Marbella. Vanity Fair, in the fullest account of the family ever published, described the young Georgiana as a great beauty.
A marriage that ended twice
Georgiana and Edgar had two daughters, Sara in 1976 and Clare in 1979. She was the one who asked for the divorce. The marriage broke down in the early 1980s, while both girls were still small.
Edgar then married her a second time, by his own account to keep his young daughters close. He called the decision “really naïve” in his 1998 memoir, Good Spirits. That marriage failed too. By the end of the decade they had parted for the last time.
Kenya, Richard Leakey and a dangerous relationship
After the split, Georgiana brought up Sara and Clare between boarding schools in England and a home in Kenya, where she spent much of the 1980s and 1990s. There she became a close friend of the Kenyan fossil-hunter and conservationist Richard Leakey. Leakey lost both legs after a 1993 plane crash, and in a later interview with Newsweek she recalled that he chose the second amputation himself rather than face a long recovery:
“Richard’s attitude was, Take off the leg and let me get on with my work.”
Her Kenya years also held one frightening chapter. After the second divorce she had a brief relationship with the Italian filmmaker Lorenzo Ricciardi, husband of the photographer Mirella Ricciardi. He was arrested in 1990, published accounts say, after she accused him of trying to kill her. What became of the charge is not on the public record.
Did Georgiana Bronfman’s daughters join NXIVM?
Yes, and for most people that is where her name first appears. Sara and Clare Bronfman became two of the biggest funders of NXIVM, the American self-help group whose leader, Keith Raniere, was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking. Clare pleaded guilty and, in 2020, was sentenced to six years and nine months in federal prison. She was released in 2025. Sara was not charged. Forbes has followed Clare’s path from heiress to felon in detail.
Georgiana has never been linked to the group, and she said nothing in public while the case ran its course.
Georgiana Bronfman and Nigel Havers
She married Nigel Havers in 2007, his third wife. They met at a party, by his account. On a podcast he described them as “very good at being together and on our own,” and he has said more than once that he felt lucky to find love again. Hello has covered the marriage at length.
Havers, the son of former Attorney General Sir Michael Havers and a familiar face from Chariots of Fire and Coronation Street, had been widowed three years before the wedding. His second wife, Polly Williams, died of ovarian cancer in 2004. His first marriage, which gave him his daughter Kate, ended in 1989.
The couple give little away now. Georgiana turns up beside her husband a few times a year, usually at Royal Ascot or the Chelsea Flower Show. She gives no interviews and is not on social media. In 2026 they are still together.
What’s true, and what isn’t
The claims you will run into online, sorted out:
- She is not Edgar Bronfman’s widow. They divorced twice, and his fourth wife, Jan Aronson, outlived him.
- She is in her mid-seventies. The age of 60 that Vanity Fair gave her in 2010 points to a birth around 1950, not the 68 or 87 often quoted.
- She was not born Georgiana. Her name at birth was Rita Eileen Webb.
- The friendship with Richard Leakey was real, but the foundations, fundraising and conservation career credited to her elsewhere are not recorded by any reliable source.
- Her personal wealth has never been made public. Any net worth figure is a guess.
Common questions
How old is Georgiana Bronfman?
She is in her mid-seventies, born around 1950.
Is she Edgar Bronfman’s widow?
No. They divorced twice, and his fourth wife survived him.
What was her name before?
She was born Rita Eileen Webb and took the name Georgiana around her first marriage.
Who is she married to now?
The actor Nigel Havers, since 2007.
Who are her daughters?
Sara and Clare Bronfman, both known for their part in the NXIVM case.
