Camilla, the Queen Consort chats with her sister Annabel Elliot (Ben Birchall/PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)Following the ascension of King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, many people are interested to know more about Camilla’s family and background.
Recently, she was spotted at the Booker Prize awards ceremony in London with her younger sister, Annabel, who leads a relatively private life but is thought to have a close relationship with the royal couple.
So, who is Annabel Elliot and how close is she to King Charles III? Here’s everything we know.
Who is Annabel Elliot?
The Queen Consort’s younger sibling, Sonia Annabel Elliot, is an interior designer and antique dealer.
The 73-year-old is the daughter of Major Bruce Shand and Rosalind Cubitt, and the second of the family’s three children, with Camilla being the eldest.
She studied fine art in Florence, Italy, before marrying Simon Elliot and having three children.
Her eldest child, Ben Elliot was the co-chairman of the Conservative Party until his resignation on September 5, 2022.
She opened an interior design and antique shop in Dorset, which she has been running for the past 30 years.
In 2014, the Daily Telegraph named Annabel Elliot as the fifth most influential interior designer in Britain.
Elliot was the patron of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering from 2005 to 2015, and of her late brother Mark’s international NGO dedicated to protecting Asian elephants called Elephant Family.
How close is Annabel Elliot to King Charles III?
Given the fact that King Charles III previously hired his sister-in-law as the chief interior designer of his estates, many believe that the two are quite close.
Elliot renovated the King’s Duchy of Cornwall estates, designing the interiors of the 12 cottages he owns on the Isles of Scilly, as well as his holiday cottages in Restormel Castle and the Llwynywermod estate in Wales.
Over the years, the interior designer also worked on the Duchy Nursery in Lostwithiel and the Dumfries Lodge House in Ayrshire, Scotland, which was opened for business by King Charles III in 2012.
Apart from work collaborations, Annabel and the royal couple are seen together quite often at garden parties and public events such as Wimbledon.
