Penelope Ann Lyttelton, Viscountess Cobham, (''née'' Cooper; born 2 January 1954), is a British businesswoman known for her involvement in a number of

quango A quango or QUANGO (less often QuANGO or QANGO) is an organisation to which a government has devolved power, but which is still partly controlled and/or financed by government bodies. The term was originally a shortening of "quasi-NGO", where NG ...

s (an acronym for quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations).

Personal life

Penelope Ann Cooper was educated at St James's School, West Malvern. In 1974, she married John Lyttelton, son of

Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham Charles John Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, (8 August 1909 – 20 March 1977) was the ninth Governor-General of New Zealand and an English cricketer from the Lyttelton family. Background and education Lyttelton was born in Kensington, London, ...

, and

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to the Viscountcy of Cobham. Three years later, upon the death of her father-in-law, the couple became Viscount and Viscountess Cobham. Along with the title came the two-century-old

Hagley Hall Hagley Hall is a Grade I listed 18th-century house in Hagley, Worcestershire, the home of the Lyttelton family. It was the creation of George, 1st Lord Lyttelton (1709–1773), secretary to Frederick, Prince of Wales, poet and man of letters an ...

, a mansion in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

. Lady Cobham opened the hall to the public and developed it as a venue for conferences.

Divorce

Cobham became a special adviser to the heritage minister

David Mellor David John Mellor (born 12 March 1949) is a British broadcaster, barrister, and former politician. As a member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister John Major as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1990–92) and ...

in the newly created

Department of National Heritage , type = Department , logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gove ...

in 1992. In 1994, both Cobham and Mellor made public announcements describing that they had developed a close relationship with one another and intended to divorce their existing spouses. The Cobhams divorced in 1995. Viscountess Cobham and Mellor live in London.

Career

Cobham has been referred to as the "

Quango A quango or QUANGO (less often QuANGO or QANGO) is an organisation to which a government has devolved power, but which is still partly controlled and/or financed by government bodies. The term was originally a shortening of "quasi-NGO", where NG ...

Queen" because of the high number of trusteeships and directorships she has held in the arts and tourism. During her marriage, to make enough money to maintain and conserve Hagley Hall, Cobham developed a successful

corporate entertainment Corporate entertainment describes private events held by corporations or businesses for their staff, clients or stakeholders. These events can be for large audiences such as conventions and conferences, or smaller events such as retreats, holiday p ...

and catering business. Prior to becoming special adviser on tourism and heritage in 1992, she was on the boards of

English Tourist Board VisitEngland is the official tourist board for England. Before 1999 it was known as the English Tourist Board and between 1999 and 2009 as the English Tourism Council. In 2003, it merged with the British Tourist Authority to form VisitBritain bef ...

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, the

Countryside Commission The Countryside Commission (formally the Countryside Commission for England and Wales, then the Countryside Commission for England) was a statutory body in England and Wales, and later in England only. Its forerunner, the National Parks Commissio ...

and

Historic Royal Palaces Historic Royal Palaces is an independent charity that manages some of the United Kingdom's unoccupied royal palaces. These are: * Tower of London * Hampton Court Palace * Kensington Palace (State Apartments and Orangery) * The Banqueting Hous ...

. Cobham later served on the boards of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

British Waterways British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotland ...

, and

London Docklands Development Corporation The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was a quango agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London. During its seventeen-year existence it was responsible for regenerating an a ...

. For 14 years, Cobham chaired Britain's largest radio station outside London, Heart Midlands. From 2000 until 2009, she chaired the British Casino Association, serving during the passage of the

Gambling Act 2005 The Gambling Act 2005 (2005 c 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It mainly applies to England and Wales, and to Scotland, and is designed to control all forms of gambling. It transfers authority for licensing gambling from t ...

. In that role, she successfully campaigned for the liberalisation of the 35-year-old gambling laws and raised £2.5 million from casino companies for the benefit of addiction and research charities, warning the casinos reluctant to donate that the government might introduce a permanent levy. Between 2005 and 2009, Cobham served as deputy chairman of

VisitBritain VisitBritain is the name used by the British Tourist Authority, the tourist board of Great Britain incorporated under the Development of Tourism Act 1969. Under memoranda of understanding with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and the offshore is ...

. In April 2009, she became chairman of

VisitEngland VisitEngland is the official tourist board for England. Before 1999 it was known as the English Tourist Board and between 1999 and 2009 as the English Tourism Council. In 2003, it merged with the British Tourist Authority to form VisitBritain bef ...

. Having been reappointed by the minister Hugh Robertson in April 2013, she served until April 2017. She was deputy chairman of Pagefield Communications, an adviser to

Citi Private Bank Citi Private Bank, a subsidiary of multinational banking conglomerate Citigroup, markets Private banking services for ultra high-net-worth individual clients, including Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs and senior corporate executives. It has 60 of ...

, Farrer & Co, Ernst & Young, and sat on the council for the National Trust. She has been Director General of the 5% Club, chairman of the Museum Prize Trust, and a board member of the

Historic Houses Association Historic Houses (formerly, and still for legal purposes, known as the Historic Houses Association or HHA) is a not-for-profit organisation that represents more than 1,650 privately owned historic country houses, castles and gardens throughout th ...

, the

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) is an independent registered educational charity based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, that came into existence in 1847 following the purchase of William Shakespeare's birthplace for preserva ...

and Urban Legacies. She is advising Everwell Group on planning for a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. She was appointed Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...

for services to tourism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyttelton, Penelope, Viscountess Cobham 1954 births Cobham Living people British chairpersons of corporations People associated with the Victoria and Albert Museum Commanders of the Order of the British Empire