Ned Rocknroll

Ned Rocknroll was born as Edward Abel Smith in 1978 to Lindy Branson and Robert Abel Smith. His parents separated when he was only a toddler. He was raised by his mother and stepfather, Robin Brockway, “in an arty, chaotic household” in Parsons Green, South-West London along with his four brothers. After growing up, he started working in the marketing department of his maternal uncle’s company.

Ned Rocknroll became the centre of media attention overnight after he was spotted with Kate Winslet in late September 2011. They were pictured at the memorial service for Richard Branson’s father Ted at the Royal Geographical Society’s headquarters in Kensington, London. They were again spotted holding hands at San Francisco Airport the next month. Around the same time, his divorce with his first wife, socialite Eliza Pearson, the eldest daughter of a wealthy British Viscount Cowdray, was finalized. While she had left him after 20 months of marriage, she reportedly wanted him back after she learned that he was dating Winslet. Among all these, there was particular interest in his unusual surname and how he got it.

Ned Rocknroll is a person who likes to have fun—be it with his appearance or his surname. According to his first wife, he thought people often take themselves too seriously, and discussed many times changing his boring birth name to something fun. He even considered having no surname at all, but that was not an option legally. So he changed his last name by deed poll to 'Rocknroll' in 2008. Over the years, his unique surname and his high profile relationships have kept him in the news.

Ned Rocknroll was subjected to a controversy in mid-2016 after embarrassing pictures of him taken at a friend's fancy dress party a few years ago were published online by an American media outlet. The images were originally shared by his friend on his Facebook page, but were soon taken down, and a court had granted his appeal to ban the publication of the pictured in January 2013. However, the American publication was not governed by the same laws, which led to the controversy.