Lady Elizabeth Georgiana Shakerley (''née'' Anson; 7 June 1941 – 1 November 2020) was a British party planner, writer and socialite from the

Anson family The Anson family is a British aristocratic family. Over time, several members of the Anson family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the Anson family include the earldom of Lichfield (since 1831) and the Anson baron ...

. She was a first cousin once removed of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and sister of

Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (25 April 1939 – 11 November 2005), was an English photographer from the Anson family. He inherited the Earldom of Lichfield in 1960 from his paternal grandfather. In his professional practi ...

Early life

The Honourable Elizabeth Georgiana Anson was born on 7 June 1941 at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

to Thomas Anson, Viscount Anson (1913–1958), and

Anne Bowes-Lyon Princess Anne of Denmark (née Anne Ferelith Fenella Bowes-Lyon; 4 December 1917 – 26 September 1980), formerly styled as Viscountess Anson, was a member of the Danish royal family by marriage and a first cousin of Elizabeth II. Born int ...

. Shakerley's mother was a niece of

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

(later the Queen Mother).

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

was her godfather. She was the niece of

Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon Nerissa Jane Irene Bowes-Lyon (18 February 1919 – 22 January 1986) and Katherine Juliet Bowes-Lyon (4 July 1926 – 23 February 2014) were two of the daughters of John Herbert Bowes-Lyon and his wife Fenella (née Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefu ...

. She was educated at

Downham School Downham School was a private boarding school for girls based at Down Hall, a Victorian country house near Hatfield Heath, Essex. The school was established in 1932. Eleanor Louisa Houison-Craufurd was the first principal from 1932 to 1950. The sc ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. In 1960, her paternal grandfather, the 4th

Earl of Lichfield Earl of Lichfield is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of England (1645 and 1674) and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1831). The third creation is extant and is held by a member of the Anson family. Hi ...

, died and her brother,

Patrick Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

, inherited the title and family seat,

Shugborough Hall Shugborough Hall is a stately home near Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England. The hall is situated on the edge of Cannock Chase, about east of Stafford and from Rugeley. The estate was owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the dissol ...

near

Great Haywood Great Haywood is a village in the civil parish of Colwich, in the Borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England, just off the A51 and about northwest of Rugeley and southeast of the town of Stafford. Geography Haywood lies ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. Despite the estate's passing to the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

in lieu of death duties, Lord Lichfield maintained an apartment for himself and his sister. Her parents divorced in 1948. Subsequently, her mother married Prince Georg of Denmark and moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

where Prince Georg served as military, naval and air

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

. Her father died in 1958 before acceding to the earldom of Lichfield. On 12 July 1961,

issued a

Royal Warrant of Precedence A royal warrant of precedence is a warrant issued by the monarch of the United Kingdom to determine precedence amongst individuals or organisations. Most warrants of this type are issued to grant a rank to a member of the nobility or gentry th ...

granting Shakerley the title, rank, place, pre-eminence and precedence of the daughter of an Earl as if her father had succeeded. Thus, she became known as Lady Elizabeth Anson. In 1966, Shakerley was a bridesmaid at the

wedding of Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands and Claus van Amsberg A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicities, races, religions, denominations, countries, social classes, and sexual orientations. Most wedding ...

Career

Following the stress of planning her own

debutante ball A debutante, also spelled débutante ( ; from , ), or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and is presented to society at a formal "debut" ( , ; ) or possibly debutante ball. Original ...

in 1959, Lady Elizabeth founded the firm Party Planners in 1960. From then on she planned parties for her cousin Queen Elizabeth II. Even after her marriage, she continued to be known as Elizabeth Anson professionally. In 1986, Shakerley published ''Lady Elizabeth Anson's Party Planners Book''. In 1993, she notably organised a 50th birthday party for

Ivana Trump Ivana Marie Trump (; February 20, 1949 – July 14, 2022) was a businesswoman, socialite, and model. She lived in Canada in the 1970s, before relocating to the United States and marrying Donald Trump in 1977. She held key managerial positions ...

's then fiancé, Riccardo Mazzucelli, but later sued Trump for not receiving £6,500 of a £36,500 dinner bill. The courts eventually ruled in favour of Trump. Notable events she planned include:

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

's 1992 wedding to

Trudie Styler Trudie Styler (born 6 January 1954) is an English actress, director, and film producer. Early life and family Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, the daughter of Pauline and Harry Styler, a farmer and factory worker. When Styler was ...

;

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

's 70th birthday party in 1995; Queen Elizabeth II's 80th and 90th birthday parties in 2006 and 2016, respectively; Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece's 1995 wedding to Marie-Chantal Miller; and a reception for foreign royal guests the night before the

Prince William William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his p ...

's 2011 wedding to

Catherine Middleton Catherine, Princess of Wales (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982), is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne. Born in Reading, Catherine grew u ...

. In 2000, she planned three consecutive events for the royal family; Prince William's 18th birthday on 21 June,

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King ...

’s 50th birthday on 15 August and

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. ...

’s 70th birthday on 21 August. As the stepdaughter of a Danish prince, Shakerley also attended many royal events in continental Europe, including the birthday celebrations of the

King Harald V of Norway Harald V (, ; born 21 February 1937) has been King of Norway since 1991. A member of the House of Glücksburg, Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the Succession to t ...

(her stepfather's first cousin) and the funeral of

Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg Jean (Jean Benoît Guillaume Robert Antoine Louis Marie Adolphe Marc d'Aviano; 5 January 1921 – 23 April 2019) was the Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1964 until his abdication in 2000. He was the first Grand Duke of Luxembourg of French agnati ...

. In 2018, Shakerley attended a state banquet given by Queen Elizabeth II in honour of the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

and

Queen of the Netherlands The monarchy of the Netherlands is governed by the country's charter and constitution, roughly a third of which explains the mechanics of succession, accession, and abdication; the roles and duties of the monarch; the formalities of communica ...

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

Personal life and death

On 27 July 1972, Shakerley married Sir Geoffrey Shakerley, 6th Bt, at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. Guests at the wedding included

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

and

Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born ...

. Her second cousins

and

Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones Lady Sarah Frances Elizabeth Chatto (née Armstrong-Jones; born 1 May 1964) is a member of the British royal family. She is the only daughter of Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, and Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon. She and he ...

were among her bridesmaids. Lady Elizabeth and Shakerley separated in 1986 and divorced in 2009. They had one daughter and two grandchildren: * Fiona Elizabeth Fenella Shakerley (born 18 August 1973); she married at

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Chad in Lichfield, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Lichfield, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Lichfield and the principal church of the diocese ...

on 22 May 2004, Edward Brocas Burrows (born 1975), grandson of

Montagu Brocas Burrows Lieutenant General Montagu Brocas Burrows, (31 October 1894 – 17 January 1967) was a British Army officer who served in both world wars and became Commander-in-Chief of West Africa Command from 1945 to 1946. Early life Montagu Brocas Burrow ...

. They have two children: ** Noah Burrows (born 1 March 2006) ** Ruby Burrows (born 2 November 2008) Shakerley suffered from

chronic fatigue syndrome Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling Chronic condition, chronic illness. People with ME/CFS experience profound fatigue that does not go away with rest, as well as sleep issues and problems with memory ...

. She died of emphysema in hospital in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 1 November 2020 at the age of 79. She is buried in the Anson family vault at St Michael and All Angels Church,

Colwich Colwich may refer to: * Colwich, Kansas Colwich is a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States, located northwest of Wichita. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,455. History Colwich was founded in 1887. The name i ...

, Staffordshire, near

. A memorial service was held on 23 June 2022 at

St Margaret's Church, Westminster The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster ...

. The Countess of Wessex (representing Queen Elizabeth II), Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands and Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar attended. She was eulogized by Dame Joanna Lumley.

Honours

* 31 March 2020: Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(CVO) * 10 March 1966: Recipient of the Wedding Medal of Princess Beatrix and Claus van Amsberg

Ancestry

Bibliography

* ''Lady Elizabeth Anson’s Party Planners Book: The Complete Guide to Entertaining Stylishly and Successfully''. London:

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld ...

, 1986. Hardcover: .

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shakerley, Lady Elizabeth 1941 births 2020 deaths People from Windsor, Berkshire

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

Daughters of viscounts Wives of baronets Event planners British socialites British debutantes British women non-fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Deaths from cancer in England Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order People with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome