Lady Glenconner on stepping into the spotlight at 87

My guest on the final episode of this season is Anne, Lady Glenconner. 

Now 93, Lady Glenconner has lived to put it bluntly, one hell of a life.

She was born in 1932, the eldest daughter of the 5th earl of Leicester and brought up in the early 20th century’s rigid social hierarchy on the ancestral estate of Holkham Hall in Norfolk. Which, incidentally, she didn’t inherit because primogeniture, of which more later. 

The royal family were a part of her life from birth. She played with princess Margaret - a fellow naughty girl - in the gardens as a three year old. At just 17 she was a travelling salesperson for her mother’s pottery business before she was called back to be a maid of honour at the Queen’s Coronation.

At 39 she became Princess Margaret’s lady in waiting. A role she kept for more than 30 years, until the princess’s death.

And then, aged 87, she decided to write a book. That book, Lady In Waiting, was a bestseller on both sides of the atlantic, spending 35 weeks in the bestseller lists in the UK and three months in the states and going on to sell over a million copies.

She has since written two murder mysteries and three more memoirs, the latest of which is the memoir come handbook, Manners and Mischief, an A-Z of a well-lived life. How much more life does this woman have up her sleeve? Plenty, I suspect.

Lady Anne joined me to talk about her temptestuous life, the importance of lifelong friendship, knowing you’re a disappointment from birth and the joy of suddenly being in the spotlight after spending her entire life in a supporting role.

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