Overview

• Her children announced her death in a joint statement on Saturday, confirming she died in her sleep at the age of 91.
• She inspired the famed Mayfair private members’ club Annabel’s, founded by her first husband Mark Birley in 1963 and frequented by royalty and celebrities.
• A prominent figure of Swinging London, she later married financier Sir James Goldsmith and was mother to six children, including Jemima and Zac Goldsmith, with Ben Goldsmith leading family tributes.
• Her story combined glamour and hardship, marked by the disappearance of her eldest son Rupert off West Africa in 1986 and son Robin’s childhood tiger attack.
• An author of memoirs including Annabel: An Unconventional Life, she remained a visible society matriarch into her 90s, attending son Zac’s wedding last month.