Lady Annabel Goldsmith dead age 91 - who are her famous children and how many husbands has she had?
Lady Annabel Goldsmith, the socialite who inspired the legendary Mayfair nightclub Annabel’s, has died aged 91.
Born Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart in London in 1934, she was the younger daughter of the 8th Marquess of Londonderry and Romaine Combe.
She became Lady Annabel at the age of 15 when her father inherited the title. Her early years were marked by both privilege and loss - her mother died of cancer when Annabel was 17, and her father passed away three years later.
A fixture of 1960s high society, Lady Annabel’s name became synonymous with glamour when her first husband, entrepreneur Mark Birley, opened Annabel’s in 1963.
For decades, it was the place to be seen - its guest list ran from the Kennedys to members of the Royal Family.
“The dance floor was one of the hottest six-foot-square pieces of ground in London,” she once said. “I don’t remember seeing it empty.”
Lady Annabel married Birley in 1954, and they had three children - Rupert, Robin, and India Jane. Eldest son Rupert died in West Africa, and her second son was badly injured in a tiger attack.
Her long and complicated relationship with financier Sir James Goldsmith began during her first marriage. After years of headlines and scandal, the couple married in 1978 and had three more children - Jemima, Zac, and Ben. Lady Annabel remained by Goldsmith’s side until his death from pancreatic cancer in 1997.
Her children Jemima Goldsmith, the journalist and producer, and Zac Goldsmith, the former Conservative MP, said they were “desperately saddened” by her passing.