Signed after leaving school in summer 2003 aged 16, her first modelling session was for a Levi's jeans commercial. While a 15-year-old student, she undertook work experience at London West End-based model agency Profile, before taking her GCSEs. Įducated at Tavistock College, she later revealed that she was bullied and teased at school for having a double-barrelled name, small breasts and full lips. Rosie's paternal grandmother, Gillian, also from a Jewish family, was the daughter of Jacob Franks, a prominent surgeon in Sussex.
She is a member of a noble family as her patrilineal great-grandfather, Wing-Commander Eric Huntington-Whiteley JP, was the nephew of George Whiteley, 1st Baron Marchamley and the younger son of politician Sir Herbert Huntington-Whiteley, 1st Baronet Eric's wife, Rosie's great-grandmother, Enid Kohn, was from a family of Polish Jews who emigrated to England in the 1870s. She grew up on a farm near Tavistock, Devon. Huntington-Whiteley was born in Plymouth, Devon, England, the daughter of Fiona ( née Jackson), a fitness instructor, and Charles, a chartered surveyor.
