Sonia Annabel Elliot ( Shand; born 2 February 1949) is a British

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordi ...

er and

antiques An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

dealer. She is the mother of British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician

Ben Elliot Benjamin William Elliot (born 11 August 1975) is a British businessman and fund-raiser for the Conservative Party who served as Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party from July 2019 alongside James Cleverly (2019–2020), Amanda Milling (2020� ...

, who served as the

Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party The chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is responsible for party administration and overseeing the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly Conservative Central Office. When the Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives are ...

, and sister of

Queen Camilla Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. She became queen consort on 8 September 2022, upon the a ...

Personal life

Elliot is the daughter of Major

Bruce Shand Bruce Middleton Hope Shand (22 January 1917 – 11 June 2006) was an officer in the British Army. He is best known as the father of Queen Camilla. Early life Shand was born in London into an upper class family whose ancestors had moved t ...

(1917–2006) and his wife,

Rosalind Cubitt Rosalind Maud Shand (' Cubitt; 11 August 1921 – 14 July 1994) was a British charity worker and aristocrat, daughter of Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe. She was the wife of army officer Major Bruce Shand and the mother of Queen Camilla. Chil ...

(1921–1994), daughter of the 3rd Baron Ashcombe and

Sonia Rosemary Keppel Sonia Rosemary Cubitt, (''née'' Keppel, previously The Hon. Mrs. Cubitt; 24 May 1900 – 16 August 1986) was a British socialite, author and aristocrat. She was the first wife of Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe and through her only daughter R ...

. Her elder sister is

, and her brother was travel writer

Mark Shand Mark Roland Shand (28 June 1951 – 23 April 2014) was a British travel writer and conservationist and the brother of Queen Camilla. Shand was the author of four travel books and as a BBC conservationist, appeared in documentaries related to hi ...

(1951–2014). Elliot went to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, Italy, to study fine art. On 27 April 1972, at the age of 23, she married Simon Elliot, a

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

landowner and son of Air Chief Marshal Sir William Elliot and Rosemary Chancellor. They have three children:

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...

, (the current

, born 1975); Alice (born 1977); and Catherine (born 1981).

Career

Elliot is the founder of Annabel Elliot Interior design and antiques, which is based in

. The shop has been running for 30 years. She is also the co-founder of Gillingham-based antiques and interiors emporium Talisman. Her daughter Alice and her husband Luke Irwin are also interior designers and antiques dealers. Elliot has been employed by her brother-in-law Prince Charles. She is the chief interior designer of his estates. She first began renovating the Duchy of Cornwall estates. She has designed the interior of 12 Duchy of Cornwalls cottages on the Isles of Scilly, holiday cottages at

Restormel Castle Restormel Castle ( kw, Kastel Rostorrmel) lies by the River Fowey near Lostwithiel in Cornwall, England, UK. It is one of the four chief Norman castles of Cornwall, the others being Launceston, Tintagel and Trematon. The castle is notable for ...

and has also performed work on Prince Charles's estate

Llwynywermod Llwynywermod ( cy, Llwynywermwd ), also known as Llwynywormwood, is an estate owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, just outside the Brecon Beacons National Park in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The estate is near the village of Myddfai, Llandovery, Carma ...

in Wales. In 2011, Elliot renovated Bovey Castle Hotel in Devon and received recognition and positive feedback as an interior designer. Bovey Castle Hotel made the 2011 Gold List as one of the world's best places to stay. The same year she helped furnish the new sustainable building of The Duchy Nursery in

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; kw, Lostwydhyel) is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increas ...

. Elliot furnished Dumfries Lodge House in Ayrshire, Scotland which was opened for business by Prince Charles in 2012. Elliot also furnished the Highgrove House Shops, which sells products for home and garden. In 2016, Elliot helped furnish 20 bedrooms at the Duchess of Cornwall Inn pub at

Poundbury Poundbury is an experimental planned community or urban development, urban extension on the western outskirts of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester in the Counties of England, county of Dorset, England. The development is led by the Duchy of Cornwal ...

village. In 2014, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' ranked Elliot as the fifth most influential female interior designer in Britain.

Charity work

Elliot was a patron of

British Association for Adoption and Fostering The British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) (until 2001, British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering) was a membership association formed in 1980 and a registered charity. Membership was open to organisations and individuals concerned ...

(BAAF) from 2005; it closed in 2015. She cited her mother Rosalind, who worked for an adoption agency, for influencing her to support the charity. She is also a life member and patron of the

Elephant Family Elephant Family is an international NGO dedicated to protecting the Asian elephant from extinction in the wild. In the last fifty years their population has roughly halved and 90% of their habitat has disappeared. Poaching, a growing skin tra ...

, of which her brother Mark was chairman until his death in 2014.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliot, Annabel Living people 1949 births British debutantes Annabel Cubitt family Annabel Annabel People from Dorset English interior designers Antiques experts