As Queen Camilla arrived at Westminster Abbey, she was met by two women dressed in matching ivory ensembles. The Marchioness of Lansdowne, one of Camilla’s dearest friends, lifted her ceremonial robe, while Annabel Elliot, Her Majesty’s sister, helped straighten the Queen’s Bruce Oldfield gown.
Peter Phillips, the late Queen’s eldest grandson, and Lindsay Wallace took their seats alongside the Royal Family on Sunday night
Lady Lansdowne and Annabel Elliot were Her Majesty’s shadows. Never more than a few feet away, they followed behind the Pages of Honour down the aisle and stood behind the Queen as she was crowned. Later, Her Majesty’s companions were given the honour of joining the King and Queen, their Pages, and working royals on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
‘We only knew we were going on the balcony one minute before,’ Lady Lansdowne said, according to the Daily Telegraph. ‘They didn’t tell us or the boys. It was a little gift but also, I think they slightly realised that without the boys holding the trains, the Queen would have been held back because they don’t slide very easily on a carpet. So the boys needed to be there and then we were just told that we were all going on the balcony which was extraordinary.’
King Charles and Queen Camilla appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace alongside their Pages of Honour and members of the Royal Family
She added to the BBC: ‘You could feel the enthusiasm of the crowds, you could feel all those wonderful people in the rain - just willing them on and it was the most extraordinary experience - this groundswell of singing and chanting and clapping. And for those little boys, something they will never forget. If you’re nine or 10 that’s something that will stay with you forever.’
Lady Lansdowne, who was dressed in a Fiona Clare gown for the Coronation, was among the Queen’s six ‘Queen’s companions’ appointed last November, replacing the traditional role of ladies-in-waiting. It is the latest chapter in the Queen and Lady Lansdowne’s friendship.
King Charles and Queen Camilla were joined by 10 working royals who carry out engagements on behalf of Their Majesties
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The Marchioness of Lansdowne, 68, is the wife of Charles Maurice Petty-Fitzmaurice, 9th Marquess of Lansdowne. An interior designer known professionally as Fiona Shelburne, Lady Lansdowne has been a close friend of Queen Camilla since Her Majesty’s first marriage to Andrew Parker Bowles. She spoke recently of giving Camilla a place of refuge when media interest in her private life reached fever pitch in the mid-90s.
‘She was out on her own without any protection’, Lady Lansdowne said in the recent Sunday Times interview. ‘That was where we could help — she would come and stay with us with the children. I went and got her out of Middlewick one day, there were cameras up against all her windows. But she is resilient.’
Prince George and Camilla’s three grandsons served as Pages of Honour at King Charles’s Coronation at Westminster Abbey
Where was this private oasis? The Bowood Estate, the Lansdownes’ family home in Wiltshire. The 4,000-acre estate is bursting with a dazzling variety of plants, thanks to green-fingered marquesses past and present.
William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne (who became the 1st Marquess of Lansdowne in 1784) commissioned Capability Brown to design the 1,000-acre park in 1762 for a fee of 30 guineas – roughly £5,500 today. As Louisa Parker Bowles discovered in the February 2021 issue of Tatler, the ‘undulating landscape is dotted with perfectly positioned oak and beech trees and a 700-species-strong arboretum. The south-facing Terrace Gardens, which today are edged with box hedging and filled with formal beds of seasonal tulips, alliums, Corinda geraniums and fragrant roses, were added by the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, to remind him of his time in Italy. But it is the Woodland Gardens, which the 3rd Marquess laid out in 1854, planted with 300 rare hybrids of rhododendrons, magnolias and azaleas, that would delight his soil-savvy successors the most’. Today, Fiona drives the development of the park and gardens alongside her husband, with the help of garden designer Rosie Abel Smith and head gardener David Glass.
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Lady Lansdowne has a clear sense of loyalty towards her dear friend; one that Camilla has repaid in turn. The Queen was determined to have her loved ones around her as she was crowned, despite the limited guest list.
‘She is fiercely loyal to friends and that will be reflected in who goes to the big day,’ Lady Lansdowne said ahead of the Coronation. ‘She wants to be loyal to the people who’ve stood by her.’ The important role of the Queen’s companion in the Coronation service shows Camilla delivered on her promise.
