Born in the 1930s, the former Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart flourished in a world that celebrated aristocratic rule-breakers. What does her story tell us about how Britain has changed?
If the sitting Marquess of Londonderry died tomorrow, and in so doing bestowed a ladyhood on his 15-year-old granddaughter, would you ever know? Would you be able to find the great houses of Britain on a map, and connect them to their owners? It wouldn’t be true to say that the press has stopped covering the aristocracy, since the Telegraph diligently covers the great estates, but the discussion now comes framed by the idea of meritocracy, which is objectively pretty ridiculous. So the Hon Nick Howard told the Telegraph a fortnight ago, “If my son wants to take over [Castle Howard], he’ll have to pass an interview,” while other great estate owners stress their role as rewilders, ecowarriors or, at their most traditional, conservationists. These days, if you’re proud of heritage simply because you own it, you’re expected to keep quiet about it.
Lady Annabel Goldsmith, who died at home on Saturday at 91, lived through an era, by contrast, in which aristocracy and wealth were extremely public. And she was its emblem, displaying a different facet in every decade.
