ARISTOCRAT’S WELSH LOVE STORY
An aristocrat raised in Australia and a Welsh engineer from a farming family have fallen in love. Jessica Walford talks to the pair as they plan their wedding...
SHE is descended from the family which sold Balmoral to the Queen and ruled parts of India during the British Raj.
And once upon a time in a land far, far away, this granddaughter of an aristocrat logged on to a dating website for farmers and found the love of her life in Wales.
It’s a modern fairytale that could yet become the plot for a film.
But now Kristyna DrummondHay and Michael Lloyd have found each other, they plan to wed at Christmas before starting a new life in Wales.
So how did two people from two very different families on opposite sides of the globe meet?
It’s safe to say 36-year-old Kristyna comes from a long line of important people in history.
She is the granddaughter of William Huntley Drummond-Hay, the 15th Earl of Perthshire, and is also related to Lady Grace DrummondHay, the first woman to circumnavigate the world in the Graf Zeppelin in August 1929.
She’s also related to show-jumping champion Annelli DrummondHay and Bettina Drummond-Hay, who dated Prince Charles before he married Princess Diana.
The Drummond-Hay family also ruled in parts of India during the British Raj at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century.
The family sold Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire to the Queen and Cromlix House in Kinbuck, Scotland, to tennis player Andy Murray.
Now the Drummond-Hay family are worth billions, with their family business acting as investors for various other businesses and owners of various hotels and restaurants in the UK and the Middle East.
But life for Kristyna was very different.
After the British left India, her parents stayed there before migrating to Australia in the 1970s.
Kristyna was born in Melbourne, the youngest child to parents (Harry) Denzil Drummond-Hay, an RAF officer, and Diane Halyburton. Her mother has links to Scottish royalty and is from an aristocratic family from Scotland.
But Denzil, who dropped Harry from his name, was keen to make sure his three daughters had a “normal” life.
Kristyna said: “Life was fairly normal because no-one knows us here and that’s what my parents wanted.
“They didn’t want us growing up any differently. My dad had a very strong work ethic and we had no special treatment or things handed to us.
“It’s only really in Scotland that there’s family wealth, I guess you could say. We were always up and down there visiting family.”
Kristyna, who works as a lawyer in Australia, said she may not have lived in a “typical house” in Melbourne, but added it was “nothing as fancy as what was in Scotland either”.
Jan Michael Lloyd, 34, had a very different life growing up in Anglesey.
He is the son of Sandra and David Lloyd, from Llangwyllog, and all of Michael’s family are farmers.
“I used to live on a farm,” he said. “It was really good. I had lots of things to do and I used to work on the farm. We used to do dairy farming, and then started doing beef, then contracting.
“I then left the farm and did 10 years in the military, in the Engineers 24 Commando.
“I just wanted to get some life experience. I lived in the middle of nowhere and my best mate joined when he was 16. I was 24 when I joined.
“I went to places including Afghanistan in early 2012. It was quite different and it was an eyeopener. It was a big thing for me.
“My family were really proud of me and for wanting to try things. I then left and started on the railways.”
Now Michael works as an engineer for SRS System and calls Conwy home when he’s not working all over the UK.
But one day Michael decided to set up a profile on a dating website for farmers. It would change his life. Muddy Matches advertises itself as an online dating site for people in the countryside, with more than 200,000 people using the site to look for love.
One day Michael decided to join. Although he doesn’t remember much, he knew Kristyna’s profile was special when he saw it.
But for Kris, it was a freaky coincidence. “I specifically went on there because I wanted someone down to earth –more country than city,” she said.
“I had a previous [relationship] with someone who was somewhat in the public eye and it was the worst thing I ever did. So I wanted a sweet, nice guy and I finally found him.
“I just remember finding him literally one day after signing up and he told me he was new on there also.
“He didn’t have much information on there but what he did have on there was really sweet. He mentioned his farming background and how he loves nature and the outdoors, like I do.”
After speaking for four or five months online the pair decided to meet and Michael flew to Melbourne.
“We got on really well and I just thought I wanted to come and see her in Melbourne,” he said.
“I was really nervous, but she was really nervous as well. I thought she
I’ll be keeping my name but adding Lloyd to the end. Nightmare triple-barrel name! KRISTYNA DRUMMOND-HAY
was amazing. It was quite emotional – she was crying.
“I was there for 10 days before I had to go back to work. When I left, it was the worst.”
Since then Kristyna has come to Wales, where they spent valuable time together.
“We just clicked straightaway,” she said.
“We’ve flown back and forth since. We knew straightaway that we’ll end up married. It was like we met in a past life or something.
“It’s quite bizarre really. We just fit together so well.”
It was while Kristyna was in Wales four weeks ago that Michael decided to take things to the next level.
“We went out for something to eat,” Michael said.
“After dinner I proposed and she said yes. I was really nervous and starting over-thinking things.”
Now the pair are hoping to get married at Christmastime, with weddings in both Oz and Wales. If you like weddings, you have to see these pictures of a Welsh hilltop wedding. So far the couple haven’t booked anything, but are keen to celebrate as much as they can. Perhaps they’ll get married at one of the gorgeous Welsh wedding venues.
“We have tentative bookings for the actual marriage and signing of the papers but not sure about venue as yet,” Kristyna said.
“Michael is a farm boy by heart so we will probably have a celebration in a quiet country pub somewhere.
“I can’t imagine it’ll cost too much in a pub, but we will be having other receptions and take pictures at the family properties in Scotland but unsure where as of yet – possibly Wedderburn Castle.
“My dress costs more than the wedding itself. We’re focusing more on funds for the ridiculously high visa fees, our home together and life after the marriage. But of course Michael wants to wear a Welsh kilt so I bought an equally grand dress.
“I’ll be keeping my name but adding Lloyd to the end. Nightmare triple-barrel name!”
After their whirlwind romance, the pair plan on marrying before settling in Colwyn Bay.
“A house somewhere in the countryside where it’s not too difficult for me to find work would be good,” Kristyna said.
“I just want a quiet life with Michael. The future? Love, maybe kids, lots of travel.
“Also, lots of fishing and outdoor adventure with Michael and just being involved with his really closeknit family, which will be a change for me. All my family is scattered around the world and it’s all business, no pleasure, really.
“I’ve never really liked Australia and always felt like a fish out of water here. My Celtic genes can’t handle the sun. I love the rugged mountains and just how natural and untouched some places in Wales look.
“I’m very interested in Celtic history so I love visiting all the ancient monuments, ruins, and of course the castles.
“We will definitely be taking lots of wedding pictures at Conwy Castle and others.”
She added: “I think that when you know, you just know. Everything will fall into place and love will be something easy that makes you feel at ease, not tense and stressed. You just feel at home, I guess!
“I definitely believe in destiny and somehow, some way, even despite distance, two people who are meant to be will find a way!”