Henriette, Lady Abel Smith


Dame Henriette Alice, Lady Abel Smith, was a Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth II from 1949 to 1987.

Early life

Henriette Alice Cadogan was the daughter of Commander Francis Charles Cadogan, a Royal Navy officer of Quenington Old Rectory, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, by his wife Ruth Evelyn Howard, a daughter of Sir Edward Stafford Howard, a great-nephew of Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk.

Career

She held the office of a Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth II from 1949 to 1987. In 1987 she became an Extra Lady-in-Waiting. She served as a Justice of the Peace for Tunbridge Wells in 1955, and for Gloucestershire in 1971. She was invested as a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the 1964 New Year Honours, and was elevated to Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1977.

Marriages and progeny

She married twice:
Abel Smith died on 3 May 2005 at The Garden House, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, aged 90.