What is a Lady-in-Waiting? Well, you are essentially a PA to a Princess (or female member of the Royal Family). She’s seen and experienced things that many other people haven’t and never will: whether that’s the inner workings of the Royal Family, owning an island in the West Indies (her husband somewhat-questionably bought Mustique in 1958) or the true horror of having to bury two of her five children, her life story is enthralling.

To say that Anne Glenconner has been through a lot in her life is an understatement. There were echoes of Pride & Prejudice when she talks about her ‘coming out’ ball and the pressure to find a husband – it’s nuts that not much changed in those circles! (At least in the 1950s when Anne was husband-hunting.) However, she didn’t necessarily do things you would expect – for example, she took to the road as a travelling pottery sales-woman and didn’t just marry the first man her father wanted her to. She was also childhood friends with Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret.

Who is Anne Glenconner?Īnne Coke was born into an aristocratic family – her father was the 5th Earl of Leicester – and she grew up in the stunning Holkham Hall in North Norfolk. Every page seemed to reveal a new snippet or story of celebrity, royalty or excess that had me engrossed and thinking, ‘whaaat?‘ and then her personal tragedies had me crying as I read. Lady in Waiting was an unexpected roller-coaster of a read. Opening sentence: One morning at the beginning of 2019, when I was in my London flat, the telephone rang. In her memoir, Lady in Waiting she tells us about her 30-years working as a Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret (Queen Elizabeth II’s younger sister), and that is just a small part of the incredible things that have happened in her life.

There are fascinating lives and then there are Lady Anne Glenconner levels of fascinating lives.

Lady in waiting glenconner