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 was born at Hatherop Castle in Gloucestershire, the daughter of Commander Francis Charles Cadogan, a Royal Navy officer of Quenington Old Rectory, Cirencester, 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 issue
Henriette married twice. Firstly on 4 September 1939, she married Major Sir Anthony Frederick Mark Palmer, 4th Baronet. They had a son and a daughter:- Antonia Mary Palmer, wife of Lord Christopher John Thynne, younger brother of Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath.
- Sir Mark Palmer, 5th Baronet, First Page of Honour to the Queen 1956–1959.
Secondly on 17 February 1953, she married Brigadier Sir Alexander Abel Smith, the younger brother of Sir Henry Abel Smith. They also had a son and a daughter:
- Christopher Abel Smith, a godson of Queen Elizabeth II and First Page of Honour to the Queen 1967–1970.
- Juliet Sarah Abel Smith