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

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

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 Listed building#Categories of listed building, Grade I listed 18th-century house in Hagley, Worcestershire, the home of the Lyttelton family. It was the creation of George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton, George, 1st Lord Lytte ...

, a mansion in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. 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 (1990–1992) ...

in the newly created Department of National Heritage 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 Queen" because of the 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 corporate entertainment and catering business. Prior to becoming special adviser on tourism and heritage in 1992, she was on the boards of English Tourist Board,

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, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

, 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 Commissi ...

and Historic Royal Palaces. Cobham was later on the boards of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

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, Scotlan ...

, and London Docklands Development Corporation. For 14 years, Cobham chaired Britain's largest radio station outside London, Heart West Midlands. From 2000 until 2009, she chaired the British Casino Association; the Gambling Act 2005 was passed during this time. 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 was deputy chairman of

VisitBritain VisitBritain is the name used by the British Tourist Authority (formerly the British Travel & Holiday Association), the tourist board of the United Kingdom incorporated under the Development of Tourism Act 1969. Under memoranda of understanding ...

. In April 2009, she became chairman of

VisitEngland VisitEngland is the official tourist board for England. Its stated mission is to "build England's tourism product, raise Britain’s profile worldwide, increase the volume and value of tourism exports and develop England and Britain’s visitor e ...

. 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 is the private banking division of Citibank; it provides banking services to high-net-worth individuals, family offices, law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. ...

, Farrer & Co, Ernst & Young, and 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 well over a thousand independently owned historic English country house, country houses, ...

, 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 preser ...

and Urban Legacies. 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens ...

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