Henriette, Lady Abel Smith

Dame Henriette Alice, Lady Abel Smith, DCVO, JP (née Cadogan; 6 June 1914 – 3 May 2005) was a Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth II from 1949 to 1987.

Early life

Henriette Alice Cadogan was the daughter of Commander Francis Charles Cadogan, a Royal Navy officer of Quenington Old Rectory, Cirencester, Gloucestershire,[1] (a grandson of Henry Charles Cadogan, 4th Earl Cadogan)[2] by his wife Ruth Evelyn Howard, a daughter of Sir Edward Stafford Howard, a great-nephew of Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk.[3]

Career

She held the office of a Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth II from 1949 to 1987. In 1987 she became an Extra Lady-in-Waiting.[4] She served as a Justice of the Peace (JP) for Tunbridge Wells in 1955, and for Gloucestershire in 1971. She was invested as a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the 1964 New Year Honours, and was elevated to Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1977.[5]

Marriages and progeny

She married twice:

• Firstly on 4 September 1939 to Major Sir Anthony Frederick Mark Palmer, 4th Baronet (d.1941), by whom she had progeny as follows:
  • Sir Mark Palmer, 5th Baronet (born 1941), First Page of Honour to the Queen 1956–1959.[6]
  • Antonia Mary Palmer (born 2 August 1940), wife of Lord Christopher John Thynne, younger brother of Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath.[7]
• Secondly on 17 February 1953 she married Brigadier Sir Alexander Abel Smith (born 1904)[8] the younger brother of Sir Henry Abel Smith (who in 1931 had married into the Royal Family), by whom she had progeny as follows:
  • Christopher Abel Smith (born 28 June 1954), a godson of Queen Elizabeth II[9] and First Page of Honour to the Queen 1967–1970.[10]
  • Juliet Sarah Abel Smith (born 26 Aug 1955)

Death

Abel Smith died on 3 May 2005 at The Garden House, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, aged 90.

References

1. Kelly's Directory, 1969, p.114
2. Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.204
3. Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.204, "Colls Duke of Norfolk"; http://thepeerage.com/p2293.htm
4. "Abel Smith, Henriette Alice (Lady Abel Smith)". Who's who 1998 : an annual biographical dictionary. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1998. p. 2. ISBN 978-0312175917.
5. Profile, ThePeerage.com; accessed 27 March 2016.
6. "No. 40936". The London Gazette. 27 November 1956. p. 6727.
7. Debrett's Peerage, 2015, p.B616, Palmer; P90, Bath
8. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/44542/supplement/2835
9. "'Nappy and glorious'". Daily Mail. 1 June 2012.
10. "No. 44362". The London Gazette. 11 July 1967. p. 7641.

Sources

• [S37] Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 2. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
• [S300] Michael Rhodes, "re: Ernest Fawbert Collection" e-mail message to Darryl Roger Lundy, 8 February. Hereinafter cited as "re: Ernest Fawbert Collection."
• [S37] Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition, volume 1, page 637.
• [S466] Notices, The Daily Telegraph, London, UK, 6 June 2005. Hereinafter cited as The Daily Telegraph.

External links

• ThePeerage.com