Lady Annabel Goldsmith dies: Socialite who gave her name to famous London nightclub passes away aged 91

Lady Annabel Goldsmith, the famous society beauty whose name became immortal after her husband gave her name to a nightclub in Mayfair, died at the age of 91.

A key figure in swinging ’60s London, Lady Annabel was the younger daughter of the 8th Marquess of Londonderry.

Annabel’s was founded by her first husband, Mark Birley, in 1963 and was for a time the most stylish department store in the world.

His six children include journalist and film producer Jemima Goldsmith and former Conservative MP for Richmond Park Zac Goldsmith, who are said to be “extremely saddened” by the news.

Although Lady Annabel’s life was privileged, it was also full of tragedy. His first son, Rupert, died in West Africa, and his second son was mauled by a tiger.

Lady Annabel was first the mistress and later the wife of dynamic entrepreneur Jimmy Goldsmith. They had three children together and stayed with him when he famously said: ‘If you marry your mistress, you create a void.’

‘The dance floor was one of the hottest eight square feet in London,’ he once said of Annabel’s nightclub. I don’t remember seeing it empty. Everyone from the Kennedys to the Royal Family came, and I once found myself unknowingly next to Frank Sinatra.

Lady Annabel Goldsmith and Princess Alexandra attend Mark Birley’s funeral in 2007

Lady Goldsmith photographed campaigning for the Conservatives with politician son Zac and daughter Jemima

Sir James Goldsmith and his wife, Lady Annabel, in front of the front door of their house with their pet dog named Copper.

Lady Annabel was photographed with her daughter Jemima at Hum Fleming’s wedding to son Zac Goldsmith last month.

Ben and Zac Goldsmith photographed with their mother, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, at a book launch in 2009.

Lady Annabel is supported by Princess Michael of Kent at the memorial service for her brother Alistair Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 9th Marquess of Londonderry

Lady Annabel was born in London in 1934 as Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart into an Anglo-Irish aristocratic family.

Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart was the daughter of Viscount Castlereagh, who would become the 8th Marquess of Londonderry, and Romaine Combe, daughter of Major Boyce Combe of Surrey.

After her father became Marquis following the death of her grandfather, she received the title of Lady Annabel in 1949, when she was only 15 years old.

His mother died of cancer two years later, and tragically his father followed in 1955.

Even as a young woman, her social standing was so high that she was honored by Queen Elizabeth II. Elizabeth herself attended the 1952 “coming out” ball.

Lady Annabel married her first husband, Mark Birley, in 1954 and the couple had three children, Rupert, Robin and India Jane.

During her first marriage, which lasted 21 years, Lady Annabel gained notoriety in newspaper gossip columns for her extramarital affair with Sir James Goldsmith, whom she later married.

After marrying Sir James in 1978, they had three more children, Jemima, Zac and Ben.

She once said that she was ‘an incredible mother, a pretty good mistress, but not a very good wife.’

Just last month Lady Annabel attended the society wedding of the year when son Zac and Hum Fleming married at St James’s Church in Longborough in the Cotswolds.

This is breaking news and is being updated.