Elizabeth Jane Tilberis (née Kelly; 7 September 1947 – 21 April 1999) was a British fashion magazine editor of Manx and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

ancestry. Tilberis was born in

Shirehampton Shirehampton is a district of Bristol in England, near Avonmouth, at the northwestern edge of the city. It originated as a separate village, retains a High Street with a parish church and shops, and is still thought of as a village by many of ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in 1947 and attended

Malvern Girls College Malvern St James School is an independent school in Great Malvern, Worcestershire, England. Founded in 1893 as Malvern Girls' College, it was renamed Malvern St James following a merger in 2006 with St James's School in West Malvern. It continue ...

. She then went to

Leicester Polytechnic De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was ...

to study fashion where she was expelled for having a man in her room.Avril Mollison. Obituary, ''The Independent'', 23 April 1999. She then tried to go to Jacob Kramer Art College in Leeds. Andrew Tilberis was an art tutor and looked over her portfolio for admission. He was unimpressed with her work, but Liz gave him a speech about why she wanted to attend and won him over (and later married him). In 1967, ''British Vogue'' held a contest requiring three essays. Liz was the runner-up and began an internship there, making tea, picking up dress pins, and ironing for fashion shoots for 25 pounds per week.

Beatrix Miller Beatrix Molineux Miller, CBE (29 June 1923 – 21 February 2014) was a British fashion and cultural magazine editor. She was editor of ''Queen'' from 1958 to 1964, and editor of ''British Vogue'' from 1964 to 1985. Early life Miller was born o ...

, then editor-in-chief, noticed how pleasant and enthusiastic Liz was and promoted her to fashion assistant in 1970. In 1971 she married Andrew Tilberis, whom her father forbade her to marry because "he was a foreigner". They remained married for almost 30 years until her death. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Liz began fertility treatments to try to conceive. They were not successful and she adopted sons Robert in 1981 and Christopher in 1985. After 20 years at ''British Vogue'', she was offered a lucrative job in New York City as part of

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for founding the brand Ralph Lauren (brand), Ralph Lauren, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He stepped do ...

's design team in 1987. She sold her house, packed up, and was about to leave for the United States.

Anna Wintour Dame Anna Wintour ( ; born 3 November 1949) is a British-American media executive, who has been serving as editor-in-chief of '' Vogue'' since 1988. Wintour has also served as global chief content officer of Condé Nast since 2020, where she o ...

, the then-editor, suddenly called Liz into her office, and informed her that she was moving to New York to become the new editor of '' House & Garden''. Wintour offered her job to Tilberis, who accepted. Its circulation began to rise under her leadership and she said, "My staff are respectful rather than frightened."

New York

In 1992, Tilberis moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and took the helm of fashion institution ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

''. In December 1993, she was diagnosed with

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...

at age 46. She strongly believed that her use of fertility drugs caused the disease. She spent the next seven years at ''Bazaar'' balancing chemotherapy and revitalizing the 125-year-old magazine.Obituary
salon.com; retrieved 6 February 2015. In January 1995, at the CFDA Awards, Tilberis received a special award for her achievements at ''Harper’s Bazaar'' from her friend

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

.Marc Karimzadeh
"TBT TO 1995 WHEN PRINCESS DIANA ROCKED THE CFDA FASHION AWARDS"
cfda.com, accessed 13 June 2023 Tilberis served as President of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund from 1997 until her death in 1999. She escorted Diana, the Princess of Wales, on one of her last visits to

, even though Tilberis herself was undergoing

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

treatments for her cancer. Diana would telephone and write to Tilberis to give her words of comfort and encouragement, until her own death in a car accident on 31 August 1997.

Death

Tilberis died on 21 April 1999 in

from

. Tributes to her were in the June and July 1999 issues of ''Bazaar''. She was survived by her husband, Andrew Tilberis, and their two adopted sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tilberis, Liz 1947 births 1999 deaths British magazine editors British Vogue English expatriates in the United States Deaths from ovarian cancer in New York (state) Harper's Bazaar People from Shirehampton Alumni of De Montfort University People educated at Malvern St James Vogue (magazine) editors