Early life

Rachel Grant was born on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Grant moved to the United Kingdom when she was a baby. Her British father, a retired doctor, hypnotist, and artist, is Michael Grant, 12th Baron de Longueuil. She is related to British royalty through her grandfather and celebrated artist, the late 11th Baron Raymond De Longueuil (second cousin to Queen Elizabeth II), whose mother was Ernestine Maude Bowes-Lyon granddaughter of the 12th Earl of Strathmore. Her Filipina mother Isabel Padua-Grant is founder of registered charity The Padua Charitable Fund, which helps to raise funds for poor communities in the Philippines.

As children, the three performing Grant sisters (Angela, Rachel, and Rebecca) attended the Miss Nora Morrison (MBE) School of Dance in Nottingham for several years, performing and raising funds for Nottingham's blind and deaf, winning national medals and trophies through theatre performances and competitions. Their mother Isabel designed and made all their costumes.

Acting career

Rachel Grant played Bond girl Peaceful Fountains of Desire in the 20th James Bond film Die Another Day. One of her first TV roles was on SyFy as Nina, the hostess of horror show Sci-fright. She was Professor Myang Li in the Sky One series Brainiac: Science Abuse. She has had roles in theatre and on British TV shows including Emmerdale, Murder in Suburbia, Blue Murder and Casualty. She also appeared as Maria Ronson in the film Until Death with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Stephen Rea, and in The Purifiers with Dominic Monaghan.

Travel and TV

Rachel stars as the female tour guide in Bravo TV's docu-series Tour Group, co-leading a diverse and vibrant group of 11 travellers while exploring the most exotic and exclusive destinations around the globe. Grant also hosted her own travel show onboard Cathay Pacific airlines from 1999-2001, was an international beauty queen and Miss Hawaiian Tropic, and has travelled to six continents and 70 countries. In 2012 she was an originator of a subterranean river exploration, and one of the team leaders who visited the uncharted Angel Cave in Bani, Philippines. Grant has been to the edge of the Mayon Volcano, and visited the Hourani tribe in Ecuador, and the Amazon rainforest.

Philippine charity

As of 2014, Grant is building a school in Bani, Philippines, to serve 150 children who were typhoon victims. She assists in charitable efforts with her mother Isabel Padua-Grant (founder of their registered British charity The Padua Charitable Fund), and visited the devastated city of Tacloban as a volunteer after Typhoon Haiyan stuck the Philippines and is helping to build homes for those who survived.

Social Entrepreneur

Grant serves as Global Ambassador to Philippine social enterprise Human Nature cosmetics. In 2013 she co-founded Furry Kind by Human Nature which produces all-natural non-toxic pet cosmetics, providing livelihood for underprivileged farming communities in the Philippines.

Travel Writer

In 2012, Grant authored the book Making a Difference about the positive ventures and good works she has encountered during her travels. She has written numerous articles and is a contributing editor for Travelife magazine and has her own column Rachel Writes in Human Nature's magalogue.

Filmography

Television

• Emmerdale as Tanya (1999)
• Masters of Combat as Kali (2001)
• Sci-fright as Nina (2001)
• Brainiac: Science Abuse as Professor Myang Li (2003-2007)
• Blue Murder as DC Jenny Chen (2003)
• Zero to Hero as Nemesis (2004)
• Casualty as Student doctor Marie Webster (2004)
• Starhyke as Wu Oof 2006
• Murder in Suburbia as Sandra Foy (2004)
• Miss Earth 2010 as a main judge (2010)
• Tour Group as Tour Guide (2016)

Film

• Die Another Day as "Peaceful Fountains Of Desire" (2002)
• The Purifiers as Li (2004)
• Brotherhood of Blood as Jill (2006)
• Until Death as Maria Ronson (2007)
• The Tournament as Lina Sofia (2009)
• The African Game as Bian (2010)
• Red Princess Blues (film) as Princess (2011)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]