You probably know her as the "American Viscountess" or, more recently, the Countess of Sandwich. Julie Montagu is the high-energy, yoga-teaching, rewilding force of nature behind Mapperton House in Dorset. She’s the woman who saved an ancestral estate by doing handstands and selling superfood powders while her husband, Luke Montagu, was recovering from a brutal, years-long battle with prescription drug dependency.
But here’s the thing: before she was the Lady of the Manor, Julie was a single mom in London.
People often gloss over her life before she met the Earl. They focus on the tiaras (though she rarely wears them) and the "Ladies of London" reality TV drama. But if you really want to understand her, you have to look at the Julie Montagu first husband era. It’s the period of her life that basically forged the resilience she’s famous for today. Honestly, without that first chapter, Mapperton might have fallen into ruin.
Who was Julie Montagu’s first husband?
Let's clear up the mystery. Julie Montagu was born Julie Fisher in Sugar Grove, Illinois. She moved to London in the late 90s, not for a title, but for a job. She was working for a digital agency—basically living the millennial expat dream. During this time, she was married to her first husband.
While Julie is incredibly open about her life now, she has been remarkably private about the specific identity of her first spouse. We know his last name was Fisher (which was her married name when she met Luke). Together, they had two children: Emma and Jack.
The marriage didn't last. By the early 2000s, Julie found herself in a position that many women dread: a single mother in a foreign country. She was living in a small flat in South London, raising two toddlers, and trying to navigate a career in the fast-paced tech world.
The "Single Mom" era in London
Imagine being a girl from small-town Illinois, living in London, and suddenly your marriage collapses. That’s what happened. She wasn't a countess then. She was just Julie, a woman trying to make rent and keep her kids happy.
💡 You might also like: Finding the Perfect Donny Osmond Birthday Card: What Fans Often Get Wrong
It was during this time, in 2003, that she went to a party and met a guy named Luke.
Luke was charming. He was gentle. He was also, secretly, Viscount Hinchingbrooke, the heir to the Earldom of Sandwich. But he didn’t tell her that. For the first three months of their relationship, Julie had no clue she was dating a future Earl. She thought she was just dating a nice guy who lived around the corner.
She actually discovered his secret by accident. They were taking a ferry to the Isle of Wight, and she saw his name on a credit card: Viscount Hinchingbrooke.
"Wait, who is that?" she reportedly asked.
Luke’s response? "Oh, that’s me."
Why her first marriage matters for Mapperton
You might wonder why we’re even talking about the Julie Montagu first husband situation. It feels like ancient history, right? Well, it’s not.
📖 Related: Martha Stewart Young Modeling: What Most People Get Wrong
When Julie and Luke married in 2004, she brought Emma and Jack into the Montagu family. Luke eventually adopted them, and they grew up alongside the two children Julie and Luke had together, William and Nestor. But the real "steel" in Julie’s character came from those years of struggle.
Shortly after they married, Luke became incredibly ill. He had been mismanaged by a "detox" clinic for a dependency on prescription medication (benzodiazepines), which led to a decade of neurological agony. He couldn't work. He couldn't lead the estate.
This is where Julie's "first life" experience kicked in.
Because she had already survived as a single mother, she knew how to hustle. She didn't sit around waiting for the aristocracy to save her. She became the breadwinner. She started teaching yoga in church halls. She wrote cookbooks. She joined Ladies of London. She did whatever it took to keep the family—and the 16th-century Mapperton House—afloat.
Addressing the misconceptions
Some people think Julie "hit the jackpot" by marrying into the Sandwich family. If you watch her YouTube channel, Mapperton Live, you’ll see the reality is way different.
- The money isn't what you think. Most of the wealth is tied up in the house and land. It’s "asset rich and cash poor."
- The workload is insane. She’s basically a CEO, a property manager, and a social media influencer rolled into one.
- The first marriage was a foundation. She often credits her American "can-do" attitude for her success, but that attitude was tested most during her first marriage and its aftermath.
She’s often asked how she balances it all. Honestly, she says it’s about "Juggling." She’s very real about the fact that her older kids, from that first marriage, had a very different early life than the younger ones. But that blended family is what makes Mapperton feel like a home rather than a museum.
👉 See also: Ethan Slater and Frankie Grande: What Really Happened Behind the Scenes
What’s happening now?
As of early 2025, Luke has officially become the 12th Earl of Sandwich following the passing of his father. Julie is now the Countess. It’s a huge title with a massive history—the 4th Earl is the reason we call a sandwich a "sandwich," after all.
But if you see her today, she’s likely in leggings, covered in dirt from a rewilding project, or filming a video for her followers. She’s moved far beyond the labels of "divorcee" or "American expat."
If you’re looking for a takeaway from Julie’s story, it’s this: your first "failed" chapter isn't the end of the book. For Julie Montagu, that first marriage was just the training ground for the massive life that was coming her way.
To really keep up with how she's handling the new title, you should check out her American Countess series. It’s a fascinating look at how she navigates the transition from the "American girl with a past" to the woman running one of England’s most historic estates. She doesn't hide the messy parts of her history, and that's probably why people love her.
Practical Next Steps for Readers:
If you're inspired by Julie's transition from a single mom to an estate manager, start by looking into her "Mapperton Live" YouTube channel. It's the most authentic way to see how she balances her past experiences with her current responsibilities. You can also research the "All-Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence," a cause she and Luke championed based on their personal struggles, which shows how they turned their private pain into public advocacy.