Anne Glenconner

Holkham Hall in Norfolk was Anne Coke's childhood home, and because she was the eldest of three daughters with no brother, none of it could pass to her. Born in 1932, presented at court in 1950 and named debutante of the year by Tatler, she was a maid of honour at the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. In 1956 she married Colin Tennant, later Lord Glenconner, who bought the Caribbean island of Mustique and gave Princess Margaret the plot of land where Oliver Messel built her house, Les Jolies Eaux. From 1971 until the Princess died in 2002 she served as her Extra Lady-in-Waiting, travelling with her on official tours, and was appointed Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order in 1991 for personal service to the royal family. Lady in Waiting, published in 2019 when its author was 87, grew out of her irritation at how Princess Margaret was being written about, and it sold heavily on both sides of the Atlantic. Two mystery novels and a second memoir, Whatever Next?, came after it.