LONDON — Lady Annabel Goldsmith, the British socialite, inspiration behind the namesake London club and matriarch of a high-flying family that includes Robin Birley, Jemima and Zac Goldsmith, has died aged 91.
“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,” her children said in a joint statement on Saturday.
You May Also Like
Goldsmith was a grande dame of 20th century Britain, and chronicled her charmed, and often complicated, life in two books published in the early 2000s, “Annabel: An Unconventional Life,” and “No Invitation Required: The Pelham Cottage Years.” She was a striking woman with the seemingly standoffish serenity of the British upper classes, which would quickly dissolve into a warm smile and an easy conversation.
Related Articles
Born Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart into an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family, she became Lady Annabel in her teens when her father inherited the title of Marquess of Londonderry in 1949. At age 19, she married her first husband, the stylish and savvy Mark Birley. He would become London’s king of clubs, and name his first — and most famous — nightspot after her.
Annabel’s, which was housed in the basement under Aspinall’s gambling club in Berkeley Square, quickly became the ne plus ultra of London — and global — nightclubs, attracting British royalty, rock and pop stars, actors, American billionaires, European designers, Middle Eastern princes — and those just desperate to mingle with them.
Princess Diana, a close friend of Lady Annabel’s, and the Duchess of York once turned up at the club dressed as policewomen and many romantic relationships were sealed in the dark alcoves, although the tabloids rarely, if ever, found out. The club’s hallmark was its discretion, and what went on in the labyrinth of rooms that made up the basement club was never repeated in the outside world.
Goldsmith, the posh, glamorous wife, was at the center of it all, although her marriage to Birley was a difficult one. He was serially unfaithful, and spent his nights running Annabel’s. The couple had three children, the eldest of whom — Rupert — drowned off the West African coast in 1986.
Their other children were India Jane Birley and Robin Birley. As a child, Robin Birley was attacked by a tiger owned by Mark’s good friend, John Aspinall.
When she was still married to Birley, Lady Annabel began an affair with one of her husband’s best friends, the swashbuckling multi-millionaire tycoon and politician Sir James Goldsmith. She eventually divorced Birley, and had three children — Jemima, Zac and Ben — with Goldsmith, who would eventually become her second husband.
Despite the breakup of their marriage, Lady Annabel and Birley remained close friends and spoke on the phone nearly every day until his death in 2007.
In 2003, Lady Annabel and her ex-husband marked the 40th anniversary of Annabel’s with two private dinners for a total of 320 friends and the guest list read like a Who’s Who of 20th century society.
Guests included Nan Kempner, John Profumo, the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, Princess Alexandra and Angus Ogilvy, Drue Heinz, Claus von Bulow, Lord and Lady Black, Andrew Parker Bowles, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and the Earl of Suffolk.
Barry Humphries, a longtime friend of Birley’s, did his Dame Edna schtick on both nights, regaling the audience with tales of a love affair with his pal. “This place was going to be called Edna’s until that scheming minx, Annabel, came along,” he said.
Lady Annabel’s old friend Nicky Haslam, the interior designer, cabaret singer and socialite, paid tribute to her in The Sunday Telegraph the day after her death.
He described her as “the nucleus of the original Chelsea set who gave London a great boost after the war in the late Forties and Fifties. At the time, nobody had any idea that the club would be the success it was; it was in a basement, which was considered awful. But because of Annabel and Mark’s personalities, it became a lynch pin of a group of friends who then became known as ‘society.'”
Haslam went on to describe “the famous Mabel, who looked after incredibly valuable fur coats at the door of the club. She was wonderful, a real mother figure. If someone had torn the hem of your dress, Mabel would sew it up in the cloakroom. Annabel loved Mabel, and knew how to choose the best people to be around her; none of her staff ever wanted to leave because they all adored her,” Haslam added.
Lady Annabel wore her privilege lightly, and in later years retreated to her home in Richmond, just outside London, enjoying her children, grandchildren and dogs away from the spotlight.
“My happiness in my life has nothing to do with being elite,” she told The Guardian in 2009. “Give me dogs, give me children, give me books and I’ll be happy.” In the same interview she said, “Loyalty is top of my list. Family has always been so important to me, and really that’s all about loyalty.”
After Annabel’s and the other Birley clubs — including Harry’s Bar, Mark’s Club, and George — were sold, Lady Annabel’s son Robin took up the family mantle, and opened a string of private eating clubs and bakeries on both sides of the Atlantic.
They include 5 Hertford Street and its basement club Loulou’s; Oswald’s on Albemarle Street in Mayfair, and Birley Bakery and Birley Chocolate in Chelsea.
His first American venture, a club called Maxime’s on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, is named for Robin’s late aunt, the model Maxime de la Falaise.
Robin isn’t the only interesting — or enterprising — member of Lady Annabel’s family. India Jane Birley is an artist, while Jemima Goldsmith, known professionally as Jemima Khan, founded Instinct Productions, which specializes in television, documentaries and film production.
She was the executive producer behind the miniseries “The Case Against Adnan Syed,” and the film, “The Voice of Hind Rajab.” She wrote and produced the award-winning romcom “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” starring Lily James.
She is the former wife of Imran Khan, the former cricketer and prime minister of Pakistan, who is now serving time in prison in relation to corruption charges.
Jemima’s younger brother Zac Goldsmith is a former member of parliament and government minister, and a member of the House of Lords. He ran as a Conservative for mayor of London in 2016, but lost to Sadiq Khan, who remains in the post.
Ben Goldsmith, Lady Annabel’s youngest child, is founder and chief executive officer of London-listed investment firm Menhaden, which focuses on energy and resource efficiency.
In a statement to The Times of London following her death, Ben described his mother as “quite simply irreplaceable. We are bereft, not for her — because her life has been extraordinary and complete — but for us, because of the immense hole in our lives she leaves behind. I spoke to her every day for 45 years. She truly had my back and we loved each other very much. I will miss her terribly.”
Lady Annabel is survived by her five children and numerous grandchildren.