Lady Annabel Goldsmith, beloved socialite and friend of Princess Diana, dies aged 91
Lady Annabel Goldsmith, renowned British socialite and close friend of Diana, Princess of Wales, has passed away at the age of 91.
Lady Annabel was the younger daughter of the 8th Marquess of Londonderry. Her name was immortalised in 1963 when her first husband, Mark Birley, opened the now-iconic Annabel’s nightclub in London’s Mayfair. For a time, Annabel’s was considered the most glamorous club in the world.
The members-only club, located at 44 Berkeley Square, has long attracted an exclusive clientele, including King Charles III, Queen Camilla, Anne, Princess Royal, Richard Nixon and Frank Sinatra. In 2003, Queen Elizabeth II visited the club — believed to be the only nightclub she ever entered apart from the exclusive Whites on St James’s Street.
Lady Annabel married Birley in 1954, and the couple had three children together: Rupert, Robin and India Jane. Their marriage lasted 21 years, during which Lady Annabel gained notoriety as a gossip columnist and for her high-profile affair with James Goldsmith, whom she later married.
In 1978, she wed Sir James Goldsmith and had three more children with him — Jemima, Zac and Ben. Their son Zac Goldsmith would go on to become a Conservative MP for Richmond Park. Lady Annabel once quipped that she was “an incredible mother, rather a good mistress, but not a very good wife.”
Among her six children are the journalist and film producer Jemima Goldsmith and Zac Goldsmith. According to reports from Daily Mail, the family said they were “desperately saddened” by her passing.
Born in London in 1934 into the aristocratic Vane-Tempest-Stewart family, she was the daughter of Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (later the 8th Marquess of Londonderry), and Romaine Combe, daughter of Major Boyce Combe of Surrey. She became Lady Annabel in 1949 at just 15 years old when her father inherited the marquessate.
Tragedy struck early in her life: her mother died of cancer in 1951, followed shortly by her father’s death. She was educated at Southover Manor School in Sussex and Cuffy’s Tutorial College in Oxford.
Within London’s high society, Lady Annabel was celebrated for her quick wit, warm personality, and love of children and dogs.
Having experienced marriage to two famously unfaithful men, she once shared her unconventional view on fidelity with The Times in 1987:
“I can never understand the wives who really mind, the wives who set such store by fidelity. How extraordinary, and how mad they are. Because, surely, if the man goes out and he comes back, it’s not actually doing any harm.”
Her “coming-out” ball in 1952 was attended by Queen Elizabeth II — a moment that cemented her place in Britain’s social history.
Lady Annabel Goldsmith leaves behind a remarkable legacy of glamour, wit, and charm, deeply woven into the fabric of London’s high society.
