Born in 1972 in London, brought up near Edinburgh, she read Classics at Bristol University before training at LAMDA. She wrote for the Art Sales Page of The Daily Telegraph. She is the daughter of Sir Timothy Clifford, former Director of the National Galleries of Scotland and Jane Clifford (nee Paterson), previously the Principal Designer for Laura Ashley and Zoffany.
She was most recently seen on television as Vivienne Baxter in BBC 1's New Tricks with Amanda Redman, Alun Armstrong, James Bolam and Anna Calder Marshall, and before that as Elizabeth Carlen in BBC1's Wallander with Kenneth Branagh, which won Best Drama BAFTA 2009; and on film as HRH The Duchess of Kent in Telstar, starring Kevin Spacey and Con O'Neill.
