Fiona Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne

Fiona Mary Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne, (née Merritt; born 3 October 1954), previously known professionally as Fiona Shelburne, is a British aristocrat, socialite and interior designer. Since 2022, she has served as a Queen's Companion to Queen Camilla.

Life

Lady Lansdowne, sixth from right, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, 6 May 2023.

Born in 1954, Fiona Merritt married in 1987, as his second wife, Charles Petty-Fitzmaurice, Earl of Shelburne. She was styled Countess of Shelburne by courtesy until her husband succeeding to his father's titles in 1999. The family seat is Bowood House, Wiltshire. Close friends of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, she is godmother of the Queen's daughter, Laura Lopes. Lord and Lady Lansdowne have overseen the restoration of Bowood House.

Lady Lansdowne trained as an interior designer at the Inchbald School of Design and worked for Colefax & Fowler. She first met her husband (then Lord Shelburne) on a working visit to Bowood while employed by Charles Hammond in the early 1980s.

In 2019, Lady Lansdowne was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire. and High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 2022–23. She was appointed one of six of Queen Camilla's Queen's companions, the modern equivalent of ladies-in-waiting, in 2022. She was one of her two ladies in attendance, alongside the Queen's sister Annabel Elliot, at the coronation on 6 May 2023.

Honours