Fiona_Petty-Fitzmaurice,_Marchioness_of_Lansdowne

Fiona Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne

Fiona Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne

British peeress and interior designer

Fiona Mary Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne, DL (née Merritt; born 3 October 1954), previously known professionally as Fiona Shelburne, is a British aristocrat, socialite and interior designer. Since 2022, she has served as a Queen's Companion to Queen Camilla.

Life

Lady Lansdowne, sixth from right, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, 6 May 2023.

Born in 1954, Fiona Merritt married in 1987, as his second wife, Charles Petty-Fitzmaurice, Earl of Shelburne.[1] She was styled Countess of Shelburne by courtesy until her husband succeeding to his father's titles in 1999. The family seat is Bowood House, Wiltshire.[2] Close friends of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, she is godmother of the Queen's daughter, Laura Lopes.[3] Lord and Lady Lansdowne have overseen the restoration of Bowood House.[4][1]

Lady Lansdowne trained as an interior designer at the Inchbald School of Design and worked for Colefax & Fowler. She first met her husband (then Lord Shelburne) on a working visit to Bowood while employed by Charles Hammond in the early 1980s.[4]

In 2019, Lady Lansdowne was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire.[5][6] and High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 2022–23.[7] She was appointed one of six of Queen Camilla's Queen's companions, the modern equivalent of ladies-in-waiting, in 2022.[8] She was one of her two ladies in attendance, alongside the Queen's sister Annabel Elliot, at the coronation on 6 May 2023.[2][9]

Honours

References

  1. [1]
    "My English Home: The Marchioness of Lansdowne". The English Home. 17 August 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  2. [2]
    Sawer, Patrick (27 November 2022). "Mother of Harry and Meghan's matchmaker among Queen Consort's new 'companions'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  3. [3]
    Nikkah, Roya (15 April 2023). "Queen Camilla: the 'lady boss', by her inner circle". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  4. [4]
    Fraser, Virginia (28 January 2021). "An English country house with a very modern art collection". House & Garden. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  5. [5]
    "No. 62782". The London Gazette. 27 September 2019. p. 17388.
  6. [6]
    "Deputy Lieutenants and biographies". Wiltshire Lieutenancy. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  7. [7]
    "New High Sheriff for Wiltshire and Swindon 2022-23". Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  8. [8]
    Nikkah, Roya (27 November 2022). "Camilla's break with tradition as closest friends become Queen's companions". The Times. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  9. [9]
    Ward, Victoria (21 April 2023). "Queen chooses sister and close friend to be her Coronation Ladies in Attendance". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
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