Juliet Townsend (1960, English), has died at the age of 73.
Lady Townsend worked as lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret from 1965 until the princess’s death in 2002.
She was also notable for her own literary connections and writing. She was commissioned by John Betjeman to write The Shell Guide to Northamptonshire and the Soke of Peterborough and also wrote a children’s book on the Indian Mutiny, as well as writing reviews for The Spectator.
Born Juliet Margaret Smith in 1941, her father was the second Lord Birkenhead. In 1970, she married John Richard Townsend and settled in Northamptonshire. She was later appointed lord lieutenant of Northamptonshire. In October 2014 she was made a Dame Companion of the Victorian Order by the Queen.
A full obituary has been published in The Times (2nd December edition). The obituary can also be accessed on the newspaper’s (paywalled) website.