Lady Annabel Goldsmith, a well-known London socialite who gave her name to a club in Mayfair, has died at the age of 91.
The heiress was the younger daughter of the 8th Marquess of Londonderry.
In 1963, her first husband famously named Annabel’s nightclub in London after her.
A major figure in the swinging London of the 60s, Lady Annabel was known for hosting annual parties for the great and the good in Mayfair Clubs and her home at Ormeley Lodge.
She is survived by her five children, including the former Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith and the journalist Jemima Goldsmith.
Her children said in a statement: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our mother, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, who died peacefully in her sleep this morning at the age of 91.”
The socialite was born Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart in 1934 and took the title of Lady in 1949 aged 15 when her father became a Marquess.
She married her first husband, Mark Birley, in 1954, with whom she shared three children, Rupert, Robin and India Jane.
Her eldest son from that marriage, Rupert, died in West Africa.
Lady Annabel gained prominence in the British press through her affair with Sir James Goldsmith, who she went on to marry in 1978.
She had a further three children from her marriage to Sir James, Jemima, Zac and Ben.
Lady Annabel once said of the club named after her: “The dance floor was one of the hottest six-foot-square pieces of ground in London.
“I don't remember seeing it empty. Everyone from the Kennedys to the Royal Family came, and I once found myself standing next to Frank Sinatra without realising it.”
