Alexia Ashford was member of British nobility, coming from the Ashford family. The adopted daughter of Dr. Alexander Ashford, 6th Earl Ashford, her real parentage was the result of a cloning experiment referred to as Project CODE:Veronica, and was biologically the daughter of Veronica Ashford, 1st Countess Ashford. Through her grandfather, Dr. Edward Ashford, 5th Earl Ashford, she was able to gain a position as a virologist within Umbrella Pharmaceuticals, an enterprise he co-founded.