Name Jane 28th | ||
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Born 1 December 1934 (age 89) ( 1934-12-01 ) Relatives Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby (grandfather)Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor (grandfather)Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor (grandmother)Robert Gould Shaw III (half-uncle)William Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor (uncle)Francis David Langhorne Astor (uncle)Michael Langhorne Astor (uncle)Jakie Astor (uncle)William Astor, 4th Viscount Astor (cousin) Parents James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 3rd Earl of Ancaster | ||
Nancy Jane Marie Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby (born 1 December 1934) is an English peer.
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Family
She is the daughter of James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 3rd Earl of Ancaster, and Nancy Phyllis Louise Astor (daughter of Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor). Her brother Timothy Gilbert (born 19 March 1936) heir apparent of the Earldom of Ancaster, was lost at sea in 1963.
Maid of honour at Coronation
She was one of the six Maids of Honour at the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
Adult life
Born Hon. Lady Jane, she succeeded according to the modern doctrine as 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby and as the sixth female holder of the barony (which is distinguished by its suffix from Baron Willoughby de Broke) on her father's death in 1983 (the third and last Earl of Ancaster). She inherited 75,000 acres (300 km2) divided between Lincolnshire and Perthshire and was ranked 1572nd in a list of richest people in 2008 forming the annual report of the Sunday Times citing her wealth as £48,000,000. The report includes domiciled and non-domiciled visitors as at believed to be the UK at the start of each year. Her father left net assets subjected to tax to his heirs on his death attested as £1,486,694 (equivalent to £4,500,000 in 2015). She is a joint hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain and may sit in one in four years in the House of Lords as a crossbencher; her relevant noble family tree back to 1789 features in that article as the office was split by decision of the House of Lords between General Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven (who was also Lord Willoughby de Eresby and Marquess of Lindsey). She has not been elected as one of the 90 hereditary peers to occupy a lifetime seat.
In 1987 she became a patron of King Edward VI School in Spilsby (now King Edward VI Academy).
Baroness Willoughby de Eresby is unmarried and without issue. This leaves co-heirs presumptive of the peerage Sebastian St Maur Miller (b. 1965), her older aunt's grandson, and Sir John Aird, 4th Baronet (b. 1940), her younger aunt's son. They will share in the Lord Great Chamberlain's quarter-interest, leaving them one eighth of the role each, ranking them second behind the Marquess of Cholmondeley who takes the role in every alternate year.