Emma Soames: The Editor Behind Major British Magazines

Introduction

Emma Soames is a British journalist, editor, broadcaster and columnist. Her career has covered literary magazines, society publishing, newspaper supplements and magazines aimed at older readers.

She is also part of a famous British family. Her mother was Mary Soames, the youngest daughter of Winston and Clementine Churchill.

But her own career stands separately. She worked in publishing for decades and edited several well-known British titles.

Quick Facts About Emma Soames

Fact	Detail
Full name	Emma Mary Soames
Profession	Journalist, editor, broadcaster and columnist
Mother	Mary Soames
Father	Christopher Soames
Maternal grandparents	Winston Churchill and Clementine Churchill
Major editorial work	Literary Review, Tatler, ES Magazine, The Daily Telegraph Magazine and Saga Magazine
Major publishing project	Editor of Mary Churchill’s War
Public charity role	Patron/Ambassador of the Forward Trust
Other verified role	Literary Executor for her mother, Mary Soames

Who Is Emma Soames?

Emma Soames is best known for her work in British journalism.

She spent years moving between very different publications. Literary criticism came first. Society magazines followed. Then came newspaper magazines and Saga.

That range matters.

Basically, she did not stay inside one narrow corner of publishing. She worked with different audiences and different editorial styles.

Her name also attracts interest because of her family.

Emma is a granddaughter of Winston Churchill. Her mother, Mary Soames, was Churchill’s youngest daughter.

Still, journalism became Emma’s own professional path.

Her Family Background

Emma Soames was born into a family closely tied to modern British public life.

Her father was Christopher Soames, a politician and diplomat. Her mother was Mary Soames.

Mary was the youngest child of Winston and Clementine Churchill.

That made Emma part of the Churchill family from birth, but she later built a long public career outside politics.

She has four siblings: Nicholas, Jeremy, Charlotte and Rupert Soames.

Family history would later become relevant to Emma’s publishing work, especially when she prepared her mother’s wartime diaries for publication.

Starting Out in Paris

Emma did not follow the usual university-to-newsroom route.

In a published interview, she said she did not attend university.

Her father became Britain’s ambassador to France around the time she left school. Emma spent time in Paris, took French courses and found work as an assistant at French Vogue.

It was an unusual start.

She was also in Paris during the unrest of 1968.

That early experience placed her inside magazine publishing before she had built the long editorial career for which she later became known.

Emma Soames and Literary Review

One of Emma’s early senior editorial jobs was at Literary Review.

She served as editor during the 1980s.

The publication had a clear literary focus, covering books, writers and criticism. Working there gave Emma experience in a field quite different from the society magazines she would later edit.

Auberon Waugh succeeded her as editor in 1986.

This part of her career helped establish Emma as a serious magazine editor before she moved into larger commercial titles.

Her Time at Tatler

Emma Soames later became editor of Tatler.

She held the job from 1988 to 1990.

Tatler already had a long history of covering British society, culture and social life, so the move placed Emma inside one of the country’s most recognisable magazine brands.

It was a different editorial setting.

Literary Review centred on books and criticism. Tatler mixed society, culture and personalities.

Emma handled both.

That ability to work across very different publications became a pattern in her career.

ES Magazine and The Daily Telegraph Magazine

Emma’s editorial work later included ES Magazine and The Daily Telegraph Magazine.

Her position at the Telegraph became one of the better-known stages of her career.

By the late 1990s, she was publicly identified as editor of the Telegraph Magazine.

Her work there also received industry attention. She was shortlisted in the newspaper-magazine category of the 2000 Editors of the Year awards.

The role placed her within a major national newspaper operation rather than a stand-alone magazine.

That meant a different rhythm. Different readers too.

Still, editing remained the common thread.

Moving to Saga Magazine

A major career change came in 2002.

Emma left the Telegraph Magazine and became editor of Saga Magazine.

Saga served an older readership, so once again she moved into a publication with a very different audience.

The magazine recorded strong circulation during her time there.

A 2008 Guardian report put Saga’s circulation at about 649,400 and discussed the publication’s success during her period at the title.

Emma stepped down from the main editor role in 2008.

She then moved into a wider editor-at-large and director position connected with Saga.

Older public profiles continued to identify her with Saga for some time after that move.

Mary Churchill’s War

Emma Soames later worked on a project that brought together her journalism experience and her own family history.

She edited Mary Churchill’s War: The Wartime Diaries of Churchill’s Youngest Daughter.

The diaries belonged to her mother, Mary Soames.

This was not simply a collection put together from family stories.

Emma worked with the Churchill Archives Centre at Cambridge, where the diaries were held and studied.

The project involved transcription and editorial work on Mary’s wartime diaries.

Seventeen diaries beginning in 1939 formed part of the archive project. The published book follows Mary’s experience through the Second World War and ends in 1945.

The book appeared in 2021.

It gave readers a personal view of wartime Britain through a young woman who happened to be living close to one of the central political figures of the period.

Emma later spoke publicly about the diaries at literary and historical events.

Emma Soames and Winston Churchill

Many people searching Emma Soames want to know exactly how she is related to Winston Churchill.

The answer is simple.

Winston Churchill was Emma Soames’s maternal grandfather.

Her mother, Mary Soames, was Winston and Clementine Churchill’s youngest daughter.

Emma’s connection to Churchill has naturally brought public attention, but she has also helped preserve part of the family’s written record.

Her work on Mary’s diaries is a good example.

Instead of relying only on remembered family stories, the project used original wartime diary material held in an established archive.

That gives the book wider historical value.

Marriage and Children

Emma Soames married journalist James MacManus in 1981.

MacManus also worked in British journalism and spent part of his career as a foreign correspondent.

Contemporary reporting recorded the birth of their daughter, Emily, in 1983.

Published records state that Emma and James later divorced in 1989.

These are the main personal-life details supported by established public records.

There is no need to pad the story beyond that.

Charity and Public Work

Emma’s public activities have extended beyond magazine editing.

She has been connected with the Forward Trust, which works with people affected by addiction and crime.

The organisation lists her as a Patron/Ambassador.

She has also appeared at talks, literary festivals and historical events, often discussing her mother’s diaries and the Churchill family archive.

Her publisher describes her as a broadcaster and columnist as well.

What Is Emma Soames Doing Now?

As of September 2026, recent authoritative profiles describe Emma Soames as a broadcaster and columnist.

She is also identified as her mother Mary Soames’s Literary Executor.

The Forward Trust continues to list her as a Patron/Ambassador.

Some older profiles describe her as Saga’s editor-at-large. That title appeared publicly after she left the magazine’s main editor position in 2008.

But current authoritative material does not clearly confirm that Saga title as her present job.

So the safer current description is broadcaster, columnist, literary executor and public supporter of the Forward Trust.

Why Emma Soames Is Known

Emma Soames has two clear reasons for public recognition.

The first is journalism.

She edited or worked at several major British publications across a career spanning different readerships and publishing styles.

The second is her Churchill family connection.

Yet the two parts of her public story sometimes meet.

Her editing of Mary Churchill’s War used professional publishing experience to bring an important family archive to readers.

That work has become one of the clearest links between her professional career and her family history.

Key Career Highlights

• Worked as an assistant at French Vogue in Paris.
• Became editor of Literary Review.
• Edited Tatler from 1988 to 1990.
• Worked at ES Magazine.
• Became editor of The Daily Telegraph Magazine.
• Joined Saga Magazine as editor in 2002.
• Moved into a wider Saga role in 2008.
• Edited Mary Churchill’s War, published in 2021.
• Worked publicly as a broadcaster and columnist.
• Serves as Mary Soames’s Literary Executor.
• Listed as a Patron/Ambassador of the Forward Trust.

Final Thought

Emma Soames has spent much of her working life around words, magazines and publishing.

The Churchill connection made her surname familiar. But that is only part of the story.

She built her own editorial career.

Literary Review, Tatler, the Telegraph and Saga each reached very different readers, yet Emma worked across all of them.

Later, she returned to family history through her mother’s wartime diaries.

That project joined both sides of her public life: editor and Churchill granddaughter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Emma Soames?

Emma Soames is a British journalist, magazine editor, broadcaster and columnist. She has worked with publications including Literary Review, Tatler, ES Magazine, The Daily Telegraph Magazine and Saga Magazine.

How is Emma Soames related to Winston Churchill?

Winston Churchill was Emma Soames’s maternal grandfather. Her mother, Mary Soames, was the youngest daughter of Winston and Clementine Churchill.

Who are Emma Soames’s parents?

Her parents were Mary Soames and Christopher Soames.

Did Emma Soames edit Tatler?

Yes. Emma Soames served as editor of Tatler from 1988 until 1990.

Did Emma Soames work for Saga?

Yes. She became editor of Saga Magazine in 2002. She later moved into a wider editor-at-large and director role.

What book did Emma Soames edit?

She edited Mary Churchill’s War: The Wartime Diaries of Churchill’s Youngest Daughter. The book was created from the wartime diaries of her mother, Mary Soames, with support from the Churchill Archives Centre.

Who was Emma Soames married to?

Emma Soames married journalist James MacManus in 1981. Published records state that they divorced in 1989.

Does Emma Soames have children?

Contemporary newspaper reporting confirms that Emma Soames and James MacManus had a daughter named Emily.