Lady Annabel Goldsmith, the society beauty whose name was immortalised by the Mayfair nightclub Annabel's, has died at the age of 91. A statement from her five living children confirmed she passed away peacefully in her sleep after a short illness.
Born Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart in 1934 into an Anglo-Irish aristocratic family, she became Lady Annabel at 15 when her father inherited the Marquess of Londonderry title. Queen Elizabeth II attended her coming-out ball in 1952.
Her first husband, Mark Birley, founded Annabel's nightclub in 1963. She later married billionaire financier Sir James Goldsmith, with whom she had three children, including journalist Jemima and former Conservative MP Zac. Her family described her as 'quite simply irreplaceable'.
Lady Annabel endured personal tragedy, including the death of her first-born son Rupert in 1986. She wrote two memoirs, Annabel: An Unconventional Life (2004) and No Invitation Required (2009), and founded the Eurosceptic Democracy Movement.
She is survived by five children, 14 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Her son Ben said: 'We are bereft... because of the immense hole in our lives she leaves behind.'
