Studied at the Sorbonne for two terms. Also studied at the University of Madrid, as well as teaching English at a Madrid psychiatric clinic.
Designed jewellery and owned a shop in London.
She was made a CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the 2004 Queen's Honours List for services to drama.
Designed some of the jewellery worn by Cate Blanchett (Queen Elizabeth) and her ladies in waiting in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007). Pieces from Rees's Qing Dynasty Collection are seen throughout the film.
Her eldest son Linford was killed instantly in 1999 in a road accident,
while driving to pick up books from Cambridge University. He had just
been awarded a master's degree in Philosophy from Cambridge.