 Charles's father's first cousin is the Dowager Duchess of Grafton, grandmother of the present Duke of Grafton and Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth II, who was born (Anne) Fortune Smith; through other members of the Smith landed gentry family, the Palmer-Tomkinsons are well-connected to the British aristocracy.Charles's paternal grandfather James Edward changed the family name from Tomkinson to Palmer-Tomkinson in 1933.He was the younger son of the Right Hon.