Lady Isabella Hervey has introduced her first child to the world in an exclusive interview and photoshoot with HELLO! magazine. She and her husband, Belgian businessman Christophe De Pauw, welcomed son Victor Michael Maurice – named after her late father, the 6th Marquess of Bristol – on January 5.
And, posing against the backdrop of her family's ancestral home, Ickworth House in Suffolk, she reveals she has never been more content.
"Being a mum is the best feeling in the world – I love it," Isabella, who lives with her husband and son in Brussels, tells HELLO!. "I never really had a close family but now that I have my own little unit it has made me happier than ever before.
"Motherhood is more amazing than I ever imagined. I love children and, when the time is right, I would like two more."
© Photo: HELLO!Lady Isabella Hervey calls motherhood "more amazing than [she] ever imagined"
And she says that she intends to be with her son through every stage of his childhood – making it as different as she can from the way she grew up.
"I intend to be a full-time, hands-on mum and look after him myself," she reveals. "I had a baby to be a mother, not give him to other people.
"When I was growing up, I had nannies and went to boarding school at six. I didn’t see my mother very much. I want to be present for Victor. I want to be there to cherish each moment, to see his first steps, his first smile, his first everything."
The former 'It' girl is the first of her generation to bear a child. And she said she still can’t quite believe how all her dreams have come true.
"I have a lovely husband, a beautiful baby – who will grow up speaking French and English – and a life I adore," she says. "Sometimes I have to pinch myself to remind myself that it’s real. I have always had a fairytale dream of a happy family life – and now that fairytale dream has come true."
