Lady Annabel Goldsmith, the socialite who gave her name to a famous Mayfair nightclub, has died aged 91.
Her son Ben Goldsmith, an environmentalist and financier, described her as “quite simply irreplaceable” and said her life had been “extraordinary and complete”.
The widow of flamboyant billionaire financier Sir James Goldsmith died peacefully in her sleep on Saturday morning, her family said.
Mr Goldsmith paid tribute to his mother in a statement to The Times newspaper, which read: “She was 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 Goldsmith attended Wimbledon this year with her daughter Jemima. Pic: PA
Lady Annabel was also mother to former Conservative minister and now Lord Zac Goldsmith, as well as writer and producer Jemima Goldsmith, entrepreneur Robin Birley and artist India Jane Birley.
“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.
Born Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart in 1934, she was the aristocratic daughter of the eighth Marquess of Londonderry.
She married her first husband, Mark Birley, at the age of 19.
He named the private members’ club Annabel’s, in London’s Mayfair, after her. It has since become a destination for the rich and famous.
Diana, Princess of Wales, with whom Lady Annabel was friends, held her hen do at the exclusive club.
Her eldest son, Rupert, disappeared off the coast of West Africa in 1986 and was assumed to have died.
Robin, the second son she had with Mark Birley, was mauled and permanently scarred by a tiger as a child at a private zoo.
Lady Annabel later had an affair with Sir James, and went on to marry him.
She described him as “the most dynamic, charismatic and irresistible man I had ever come across”.
She told The Guardian in 2009: “My happiness in my life has nothing to do with being elite.
“Give me dogs, give me children, give me books and I’ll be happy.”
Lady Annabel said people always assumed she was haughty, but insisted “really I’m not”.
She wrote a number of books, including a memoir of her life in 2004.
