Anne Bowes-Lyon

For her paternal aunt by marriage, see Lady Anne Bowes-Lyon.

Anne
Princess Georg of Denmark Viscountess Anson
Anne at the wedding of Princess Ragnhild of Norway, 15 May 1953
Born	Anne Ferelith Fenella Bowes-Lyon (1917-12-04)4 December 1917 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Died	26 September 1980(1980-09-26) (aged 62) London, England
Spouse	Thomas Anson, Viscount Anson ​ ​ (m. 1938; div. 1948)​ Prince Georg of Denmark ​ ​ (m. 1950)​
Issue	Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield Lady Elizabeth Shakerley
House	Bowes-Lyon
Father	John Bowes-Lyon
Mother	Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis

Princess Anne of Denmark (née Anne Ferelith Fenella Bowes-Lyon; 4 December 1917 – 26 September 1980), formerly styled as Viscountess Anson, was a member of the Danish royal family by marriage and a first cousin of Elizabeth II.

Born into the Bowes-Lyon family, she married Thomas Anson, Viscount Anson, and had two children, Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield, and Lady Elizabeth Shakerley, before divorcing Anson in 1948. She became a princess of Denmark by her second marriage to Prince Georg of Denmark in 1950.

Family

Coat of arms of Princess Anne of Denmark

Anne Bowes-Lyon was born in Washington, D.C., in 1917. Her father was the Hon. John Herbert Bowes-Lyon and her mother was the Hon. Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, daughter of Charles Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st Baron Clinton. Anne's paternal grandfather was Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. She was a niece of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Anne had three younger sisters, two of whom were Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, who were institutionalized in 1941 for severe intellectual disability. She was second born, but eldest surviving daughter. Apart from early deceased Patricia (1916-1917), Nerissa (1919-1986) and Katherine (1926-2014), Anne also had one younger sister, Diana Cinderella Somervell (1923-1986).

Marriages

Princess Anna and Prince George

Anne married Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas William Arnold Anson (1913–1958) on 28 April 1938. As her husband held the courtesy title of Viscount Anson, Anne was styled Viscountess Anson upon their marriage. They were divorced in 1948. They had two children, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren:

• (Thomas) Patrick John Anson (25 April 1939 – 11 November 2005), who later succeeded his grandfather as the 5th Earl of Lichfield. He married Lady Leonora Grosvenor, daughter of the Duke of Westminster, on 8 March 1975 and they were divorced circa 1986. They had three children and four grandchildren.
• Lady Elizabeth Georgiana Anson (7 June 1941 – 1 November 2020), who worked as a party planner for the Queen. She married Sir Geoffrey Adam Shakerley, 6th Baronet on 27 July 1972 and they were divorced in 2009. They had one daughter and two grandchildren.

On 16 September 1950, at Glamis Castle, Anne, Viscountess Anson subsequently married Prince Georg of Denmark, upon which she became Her Highness Princess Anne of Denmark.

Death

Anne died in 1980, aged 62, in London of a heart attack. She is buried alongside her second husband, Prince George of Denmark, at Bernstorffpark, Gentofte, Denmark.

Honours

United Kingdom: King George VI Coronation Medal

United Kingdom: Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal

Denmark: Order of the Elephant

Ancestry

Ancestors of Anne Bowes-Lyon

8. Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne 4. Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne 9. Frances Dora Smith 2. The Hon. John Bowes-Lyon 10. Charles Cavendish-Bentinck 5. Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck 11. Caroline Louisa Burnaby 1. Anne Bowes-Lyon 12. Charles Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 20th Baron Clinton 6. Charles Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st Baron Clinton 13. Harriet Williamina Hepburn-Forbes 3. The Hon. Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis 14. Mark McDonnell, 5th Earl of Antrim 7. Lady Jane Grey McDonnell 15. Jane Macan

References

Bibliography

• Bramsen, Bo (1992). Huset Glücksborg. Europas svigerfader og hans efterslægt [The House of Glücksburg. The Father-in-law of Europe and his descendants] (in Danish) (2nd ed.). Copenhagen: Forlaget Forum. ISBN 87-553-1843-6.