Anthony Nils Christian Ashley-Cooper, 11th Earl of Shaftesbury (24 June 1977 – 15 May 2005) was the elder son of

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 10th Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 10th Earl of Shaftesbury Baronet, Bt (22 May 1938 – 5 November 2004), styled Lord Ashley between 1947 and 1961, and Earl of Shaftesbury from 1961 until his death, was a British peerage, British peer from Wimborne St Gile ...

by his second marriage to the Swedish-born Christina Eva Montan. He became the 11th Earl of Shaftesbury (retroactively) in 2004, as a result of the discovery of his father's body in 2005 at the bottom of a ravine in

Théoule-sur-Mer Théoule-sur-Mer (; Occitan: ''Teula de Mar'' or simply ''Teula''), popularly known as Théoule, is a resort village in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. It lies to the east of th ...

, on the outskirts of

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

in the south of France. The 10th Earl went missing in November 2004 and his body was discovered in early 2005. The then Lord Ashley technically inherited the earldom immediately upon the death of his father, who was murdered by the brother of his third wife, Jamila M'Barek. However, as his father was only believed to be missing, the inheritance was actually not confirmed until his body was found.

Biography

Unlike his father, who pursued the hedonistic lifestyle of an international playboy, the 11th Earl appears to have led a far more sedate and ordinary existence, living quietly at his flat at

Earl's Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

in London where he was employed as an accountant. He was reportedly looking forward to getting to grips with the task of managing the family's estates at

Wimborne St Giles Wimborne St Giles is a village and civil parish in east Dorset, England, on Cranborne Chase, north of Wimborne Minster and north of Poole. The village lies within the Shaftesbury estate, owned by the Earls of Shaftesbury, Earl of Shaftesbury. ...

in Dorset after enjoying a short holiday in the United States where he was visiting his younger brother

Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

, who worked as a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It was during this holiday that the 11th Earl suddenly died after an apparent

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on a Sunday some six weeks after assuming the title. Lord Shaftesbury was 27 years old. The family issued a statement through

Sussex Police Sussex Police are the territorial police force responsible for policing in the whole of Sussex. Their jurisdiction covers the ceremonial counties of East Sussex and West Sussex. Their headquarters are in Malling House, Lewes, East Sussex. Hi ...

which said that; The office of the chief medical officer in New York confirmed that Lord Shaftesbury had died at St Vincent's Hospital in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, adding that the cause of death was still under investigation; "It's still being studied. We are still doing tests, it will be at least another week before we can confirm anything." Prior to his inheritance, he was known as Lord Ashley. He also held the subsidiary titles Baron Ashley and Baron Cooper. He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

and the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, where he obtained a BSc degree. The late Earl's younger brother Nicholas Edmund Anthony Ashley-Cooper succeeded as the 12th Earl of Shaftesbury.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 11th Earl Of 11 1977 births 2005 deaths People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of the University of Bristol English people of Swedish descent English people of French descent English accountants 20th-century English businesspeople 20th-century English nobility