A goddaughter of Robert E. Lee and a granddaughter of the engineer and senator William Cabell Rives, who had also been American ambassador to France, she was born in Richmond, Virginia and named after her aunt Amélie, a goddaughter of French Queen Marie-Amélie.
As Cherry Drummond, she also wrote The Remarkable Life of Victoria Drummond - Marine Engineer, a biography of an intrepid aunt, Victoria Drummond, a goddaughter of Queen Victoria who was an engineer with the Blue Funnel Line for 40 years from 1922.
Her cousin and goddaughter is Carolina Kostner, the 2012 World champion in figure skating.
Isabel Roldán (born 1657), goddaughter of Juan de Valdés Leal married Alejandro Martagón, a collaborator in Roldán's studion.