Fiona Sara Shackleton, Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia, (''née'' Charkham; born 26 May 1956) is an English solicitor and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician, who has represented members of the British royal family and celebrities, including Sir

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, Prince Andrew, Duke of York,

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

, and Princess Haya bint Hussein. Her charm and resoluteness earned her the nickname "Steel Magnolia".BBC News: Magazine – Faces of the week
/ref>

Biography

Born Fiona Sara Charkham in London, she is the daughter of Jonathan Charkham, an economist and adviser to The Bank of England, and Moira Elizabeth Frances Salmon, daughter of Barnett Alfred and Molly Salmon. Her mother's family, the Salmon family, were co-owners of the J. Lyons & Co. cornerhouse empire. Through the Salmon family, Shackleton is a cousin to

Nigella ''Nigella'' is a genus of 18 species of annual plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native to Southern Europe, North Africa, South Asia, Southwest Asia and Middle East. Common names applied to members of this genus are nigella, devil-in-a-bush o ...

and

Dominic Lawson Dominic Ralph Campden Lawson (born 17 December 1956) is a British journalist. Background Lawson was born to a Jewish family, the elder son of Conservative politician Nigel Lawson and his first wife socialite Vanessa Salmon. Lawson was educated ...

, and

George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is a British writer known for his environmental and political activism. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and is the author of a number of books. Monbiot grew up in Oxfordsh ...

. Shackleton was educated at Benenden School in Kent. She attended

Exeter University , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

, graduating with a third class degree in law. Shackleton then trained as a cordon bleu chef, and became an executive caterer for boardrooms before training to be a solicitor. In July 2010, she was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Exeter in the form of an LL.D. On 21 December 2010, the Queen created Shackleton a life peer as Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia, of

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dang ...

in the City of Westminster. She sits as a

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

. Shackleton supported the research by the University of Exeter examining compatibility and the ten key aspects of a successful relationship (named the Shackleton Project). The research was published in July 2018.''The University of Exeter'':"Shackleton Relationships Project"
/ref>

Legal career

Shackleton qualified as a solicitor in 1980, and by 1986 she had become a partner at Farrer and Co, the firm of solicitors employed by the British royal family. In the same year Shackleton and other international family lawyers, including Jane Simpson and Raymond Tooth, co-founded the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, an invitation-only organisation which now consists of over 500 of the world's leading family lawyers. Her first high-profile case was that of the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

and Duchess of York. Shackleton joined Payne Hicks Beach in 2001 as a partner. Shackleton is reputed to have fallen out of royal favour in the aftermath of the

Paul Burrell Paul Burrell (born 6 June 1958) is a former servant of the British Royal Household and latterly butler to Princess Diana. Background and Royal Household career Burrell was born and raised in Grassmoor, Derbyshire, a coal-mining village. His ...

affair and the suggestions of a cover-up over allegations of a homosexual rape within the royal household put Shackleton, in her own words, "under pressure for a solution to be reached more speedily than I was able to achieve". She was criticised in the Peat Report on the proceedings.''Report to HRH The Prince of Wales
by Sir Michael Peat and Edmund Lawson QC'', 13 March 2003 In the 2006 New Year Honours, she was made a

Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

(LVO) and remains solicitor for the

Duke of Cambridge Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male de ...

and the

Duke of Sussex Duke of Sussex is a substantive title, one of several royal dukedoms, that has been created twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It is a hereditary title of a specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. It takes its name fr ...

.TEAM MACCA vs TEAM MILLS – ''The Independent'', London
/ref> In March 2012, one of Shackleton's former clients filed a negligence claim against her for incorrect advice on a child support case. The former client states that due to this erroneous advice he lost out on more than £260,000. Shackleton charged over £95,000 in fees for the advice.''The Lawyer'': "Shackleton faces negligence claim from former client", 26 March 2012
/ref> The case was subsequently dropped and the client paid his own costs.''The Lawyer'': "Former client drops negligence claim against Shackleton", 10 December 2012
/ref>

Famous cases

Shackleton's high-profile cases include: * The

and Duchess of York: where Shackleton represented the Duke. The Duchess was able to negotiate a £3 million settlement. * The

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

and Princess of Wales: where Shackleton represented the Prince. The Princess was able to negotiate a £17 million settlement and observers saw the outcome as a creditable draw. On the same date that Buckingham Palace announced to the public that the Prince and Princess had reached a settlement, the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

issued letters patent to regulate the styles and titles of former members of the royal family after divorce. Information about those letters patent was included by the Palace in the same press release that contained the announcement of the divorce agreement. In accordance with those letters patent, Diana lost her style of

Royal Highness Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Monarchs and their consorts are usually styled ''Majesty''. When used as a direct form of address, spoken or written, it t ...

when the decree absolute of divorce was issued. The forfeiture of the title of Royal Highness is often attributed to the diligence of Shackleton, but styles of members of the royal family are governed by the prerogative of the sovereign. *

Sir Paul McCartney ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

and Heather Mills McCartney: in which Shackleton represented the former Beatle, and secured leading QC Sir Nicholas Mostyn before Mills's solicitor Anthony Julius, leading to their being known during the case by the media as the "legal dream team." Mills described Shackleton in an interview with

Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American television and radio host, whose awards included 2 Peabodys, an Emmy and 10 Cable ACE Awards. Over his career, he hosted over 50,000 interviews. ...

thus: "There’s this nasty woman – Fiona Shackleton. She wants to drag it out as long as possible to fill her pockets and she’s said some pretty mean things when I was in a wheelchair." At the final settlement hearing, Mills poured a jug of water over Shackleton's head. * Claire and

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best player ...

: in which Shackleton represented wife Claire Merry, whose marriage broke down after the Arsenal striker left for

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. * John Cleese and

Alyce Faye Eichelberger Alyce Faye Eichelberger Cleese (''née'' McBride; born October 28, 1944) is an American psychotherapist, author and talk radio host. She was married to golfer Dave Eichelberger and later to actor-comedian John Cleese. Education Alyce Faye McBr ...

: in which she represented Alyce Faye. Cleese said afterwards, "What I find so unfair is that if we both died today, her children would get much more than mine". * Sheikh

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, links=no; ; born 15 July 1949) is the vice president, prime minister, and minister of defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as the ruler of Dubai ...

and Princess

Haya bint Hussein Princess Haya bint Hussein ( ar, الأميرة هيا بنت الحسين; born 3 May 1974) is the daughter of King Hussein of Jordan and his third wife Queen Alia, and the half-sister of King Abdullah II. She is a graduate of the University ...

: in which Shackleton represented Princess Haya.

Personal life

Shackleton is married to Ian Ridgeway Shackleton, who runs a business called The Chatham Archive & Document Storage Company, and who is related to Antarctic explorer

Sir Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

. The couple have two daughters.

References

External links