Helena Peabody is the only child of Peggy Peabody, a free-spirited socialite and heiress. Peggy married Helena's father, a penniless British aristocrat, in England after her fleeing a brief same-sex relationship in early 1970s. Helena was born in England c. 1974 and had primarily and presumably been living in England, hence her British accent, and later, New York. She has an ex-lover, Winnie Mann, with whom she has a son, Wilson. The couple later adopted a Chinese girl, Jang Yin. Both children spend time between both mothers after their split. Helena had a few sex-related legal problems, and every time her mother came to her rescue. It was after Peggy's retirement and Helena's appointment as the new director of the Peabody Foundation that she later moved to Los Angeles.