Lady Elizabeth Shakerley


Lady Elizabeth Georgiana Shakerley is a British party planner and socialite from the Anson family. Lady Elizabeth is a first cousin, once removed, of Queen Elizabeth II and sister of Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield.

Biography

The Hon. Elizabeth Georgiana Anson was born on 7 June 1941 at Windsor Castle to Thomas Anson, Viscount Anson, and his wife, Anne Bowes-Lyon, the future Princess Anne of Denmark. Anson's mother was a niece of Queen Elizabeth. King George VI was her godfather. She was educated at Downhall School, Hertfordshire. When her brother inherited the family seat, Shugborough Hall near Great Haywood, Staffordshire, she moved in with him.
Her parents divorced in 1948. Her mother remarried Prince George Valdemar of Denmark and moved to Paris. Her father died in 1958.
Lady Elizabeth has been planning parties for her cousin, The Queen, since 1960. Notable events has she planned include Sting's wedding, Margaret Thatcher's 70th birthday party, Elizabeth II's 80th birthday party, the wedding of Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, and Marie-Chantal Miller and a reception for foreign royals the night before the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel.
As the step-daughter of a Danish prince, Lady Elizabeth has also attended many royal events in continental Europe, including the 80th birthday celebrations in Oslo of The King and Queen of Norway, and the funeral of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg. In 1966, Lady Elizabeth was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands and Jonkheer Claus van Amsberg. In 2018, Lady Elizabeth attended the state banquet given by The Queen in honour of The King and Queen of the Netherlands at Buckingham Palace.

Marriage and issue

On 27 July 1972, Anson married Sir Geoffrey Shakerley, 6th Bt at Westminster Abbey. Guests included The Queen, The Queen Mother and Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands. Princess Anne was a bridesmaid. Lady Elizabeth and Shakerley divorced in 2009. They have one daughter and two grandchildren:

Titles and styles

Despite her father dying before acceding to the earldom of Lichfield, Anson was granted the rank of an Earl's daughter on 12 July 1961.

Honours