Sonia Annabel Elliot (' Shand; born 2 February 1949) is a British

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

er and

antiques An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

dealer. She is the mother of British

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

politician Sir Ben Elliot, who served as the Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party. She is also the sister of

Queen Camilla Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. Camilla was raised in East ...

Personal life

Elliot is the daughter of Major Bruce Shand (1917–2006) and his wife, The Honourable Rosalind Cubitt (1921–1994), daughter of the 3rd Baron Ashcombe and Sonia Rosemary Keppel. Her elder sister is

(born 1947), and her brother was travel writer

Mark Shand Mark Roland Shand (28 June 1951 – 23 April 2014) was an English travel writer and conservationist, as well as the brother of Queen Camilla. Shand was the author of four travel books and as a BBC conservationist, appeared in documentaries rela ...

(1951–2014). Elliot went to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy, to study fine art. On 27 April 1972, at the age of 23, she married Simon Elliot (1940–2023), a

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

landowner and son of Air Chief Marshal Sir William Elliot and Rosemary Chancellor. They have three children, including Sir Ben Elliot, a former Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party.

Career

Elliot is the founder of Annabel Elliot Interior design and antiques, which is based in

. The shop has been running for 30 years. She is also the co-founder of Gillingham-based antiques and interiors emporium Talisman. Her daughter Alice and her husband Luke Irwin are also interior designers and antiques dealers. Elliot has been employed by her brother-in-law

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

. She is the chief interior designer of his estates. She first began renovating the

Duchy of Cornwall A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between "sovereign ...

estates. She has designed the interior of 12 Duchy of Cornwall cottages on the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...

, holiday cottages at

Restormel Castle Restormel Castle () lies by the River Fowey near Lostwithiel in Cornwall, England, UK. It is one of the four chief Normans, Norman castles of Cornwall, the others being Launceston Castle, Launceston, Tintagel Castle, Tintagel and Trematon Castl ...

and has also performed work on King Charles's estate of

Llwynywermod Llwynywermod (; ), also known as Llwynywormwood, is an estate owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, just outside the Brecon Beacons, Brecon Beacons National Park in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The estate is near the village of Myddfai, Llandovery, Carmar ...

in Wales. In 2011, Elliot renovated Bovey Castle Hotel in Devon and received recognition and positive feedback as an interior designer. Bovey Castle Hotel made the 2011 Gold List as one of the world's best places to stay. The same year she helped furnish the new sustainable building of The Duchy Nursery in

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; ) is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increasing to 2,899 at the 2011 census. The Lostwi ...

in Cornwall. Elliot furnished Dumfries Lodge House in Ayrshire, Scotland which was opened for business by Charles in 2012. Elliot also furnished the Highgrove House Shops, which sells products for home and garden. In 2016, Elliot helped furnish 20 bedrooms at the Duchess of Cornwall Inn pub at Poundbury village in Dorset. In 2014, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' ranked Elliot as the fifth most influential female interior designer in Britain.

Charity work

Elliot was a patron of British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) from 2005; it closed in 2015. She cited her mother Rosalind, who worked for an adoption agency, for influencing her to support the charity. She is also a life member and patron of the

Elephant Family Elephant Family is an international NGO dedicated to protecting the Asian elephant from extinction in the wild. In the last fifty years, their population has roughly halved and 90% of their habitat has disappeared. Poaching, a growing skin tr ...

, of which her brother Mark was chairman until his death in 2014.

Lady-in-attendance

Annabel Elliot was lady-in-attendance at the couple's coronation in 2023. With her son and daughter-in-law, she was invited to ride in the King's procession at Royal Ascot 2023.

Honours

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliot, Annabel Living people 1949 births British debutantes Annabel Annabel Annabel Annabel People from Dorset English interior designers British antiques experts Chancellor family