Amanda Owen and Clive Owen reside on Ravenseat Farm (Image: CHANNEL 5)
The Owen family, stars of , reside on the Ravenseat estate, which boasts its own impressive connections. The estate is owned by billionaire Robert Miller, the third wealthiest individual with ties to Yorkshire, who has royal connections due to his daughters marrying princes in the 1990s.
The upper Swaledale farm, home to over 1,000 sheep and various other animals, is actually owned by Mr Miller, co-founder of DFS (Duty Free Shops) and a figure with international royal links.
Miller’s farm is a sprawling 2,000-acre working farm located at the head of the River Swale in the Yorkshire Dales. The Owen family might be newcomers but the land at Ravenseat has been farmed for 1,000 years.
It specialises in Swaledale sheep but also is home to cows, hens and dogs along with the Yorkshire Farm family.
The owner of the estate, Robert Miller, is a billionaire, entrepreneur and sailing champion.
Billionaire entrepreneur Robert Miller owns the Ravenseat estate (Image: NC)
The 91 year old American-British businessman is a highly esteemed entrepreneur, best known for founding Duty Free Shops (DFS). Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, just eight miles from Boston, Mr Miller’s lineage traces back to Henry I of England, Louis IV of France, and William I of Scotland.
Mr Miller graduated from Cornell University School of Hotel Administration in 1955 with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration. After leaving Cornell, he embarked on several projects before establishing DFS – the concept of duty-free shopping.
DFS began trading in Hong Kong, where it still maintains its corporate headquarters, later expanding to Europe and other continents. The company’s first significant breakthrough came in the early 1960s when it secured the exclusive concession for duty-free sales in Hawaii and Hong Kong, enabling it to market its products to Japanese travellers.
DFS eventually grew to include off-airport duty-free stores and large downtown Galleria stores, becoming the world’s largest travel retailer. In 1996, Mr Miler’s business partner Chuck Feeney sold his interests to Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) for a whopping $1.63 billion.
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Robert Miller pictured in the centre (Image: Getty)
Despite this, the Yorkshireman retained his shares and remains a significant minority shareholder (38%) in DFS alongside LVMH.
Mr Miller is the proud father of three daughters, Princess Alexandra von Furstenberg, 48, Pia Getty, 55, and Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, 52, collectively known as The Miller sisters. These ladies were the “It Girls” of the 1990s, gracing the pages of glossy magazines and tabloids before ascending to princess status.
Marie-Chantal wed Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, at the age of 27 after he proposed during a skiing holiday in Gstaad, Switzerland. He is the heir to the now-defunct Greek throne, with the monarchy having been abolished in 1973.
Following her sister’s lead, the billionaire’s second daughter Alexandra also married into royalty. In 1995, she tied the knot with Prince Alexander von Furstenberg, son of renowned fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.
However, their marriage ended seven years later, after they had two children.
Pia, on the other hand, married Christopher Getty, the grandson of American oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty.
According to The Sunday Times Rich List in 2023, billionaire Miller is ranked as the third richest person in Yorkshire.
His estimated worth is £1.583bn. He is the owner of the Gunnerside estate in Yorkshire, which covers an impressive 36,000 acres.
Interestingly, this estate is merely 10 miles away from the Owens’ Ravenseat Farm.