Anne Abel Smith

Anne Abel Smith
Born	Anne Mary Sibylla Abel Smith (1932-07-28) July 28, 1932
Other names	Anne Liddell-Grainger
Spouse	David Liddell-Grainger (1957-1996)
Children	Ian Liddell-Grainger Charles Montagu Liddell-Grainger Simon Rupert Liddell-Grainger Alice Mary Liddell-Grainger Malcolm Henry Liddell-Grainger
Parents	Sir Henry Abel Smith (father) Lady May Abel Smith (mother)

Anne Abel Smith (born 28 July 1932), formerly known as Anne Liddell-Grainger, is a British aristocrat and Christian charity worker. A great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, she was married for 25 years to Scottish politician David Liddell-Grainger and is the mother of Conservative MP Ian Liddell-Grainger. In her sixties, she attended gospel meetings in Kennington, did missionary work in Africa, and was often invited to Royal Ascot and other functions by the queen.

Early life and education

Anne was born Lady Anne Mary Sibylla Abel Smith to Lady May Abel Smith and Sir Henry Abel Smith in 1932. She was the eldest of their three children and older sister to Richard Abel Smith and Elizabeth. She is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria; her mother was the eldest daughter of the Princess Alice of Albany, who was the eldest daughter of Victoria's youngest son, Prince Leopold. Her grandparents were Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone and Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone.

She attended King's Hall Compton in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, when she was twelve.

Personal life

Anne married David Liddell-Grainger, a Scottish politician, on 14 December 1957. Their wedding ceremony was held in St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. Anne was attended by eight bridesmaids, among them Beatrix and Irene of the Netherlands, and Christina of Sweden, and wore a veil made for Queen Mary's wedding and a diamond tiara which was loaned to her by a cousin.

The couple had five children, including Ian Liddell-Grainger, who became the first direct descendant of Queen Victoria to be elected to the House of Commons in 2001.

In 1963, Anne and her husband took ownership of two Pharaoh hounds while vacationing in Malta. In the following years, they made an effort to try to introduce the breed to the United Kingdom; in 1966, only ten Pharaoh hounds were recorded in the United Kingdom, with the couple owning five at Ayton Castle in Scotland.

She divorced David after 25 years of marriage.

Charity work

In a rare interview in 1998, Abel Smith told The Mirror that she was a frequent passenger on board the hospital ship MV Anastasis, paying her own way to join Christian missions to Third World countries as a volunteer.