Like a colonial plantation owner, the Caribbean aficionado Lord Glenconner — the one-time great friend of Princess Margaret — strolls through the streets of scruffy Soufriere on his adopted island of St Lucia. Dressed in his trademark white straw hat and handmade Indian cotton shirt, he collects his post from the local supermarket.
But even before the hurricane season hits his idyllic home between the island’s mountains, The Pitons, a storm has erupted over the St Lucian government’s decision to give Glenconner’s elegant wife, Lady Anne, an unexpected honour.
Unlikely role: Lady Anne is going to be an ambassador for St Lucia
Anne, 78, daughter of the 5th Earl of Leicester, is to be appointed as an ambassador for the former British colony, as I revealed. Unlike Glenconner, she has never lived on the island, preferring the cooler climes of her family’s stately home, Holkham Hall in Norfolk.
Despite this, she is also being given a St Lucian passport.
However, her husband’s joy at the decision by prime minister Stephenson King is not universally shared. In fact, it has caused a stream of protest, with islanders complaining to their local newspaper that she has little connection to the country. As one wrote: ‘What has she done for St Lucia thus far, apart from having her husband residing on the island? What qualifies her appointment?’
Another complains: ‘This is just not right. This lady does not yet have a St Lucian passport, but the government is so determined to have her as an ambassador that they will expedite delivery of one.
‘If that is not a slap in the face of St Lucians, I don’t know what is.’
Other complaints point out that despite being Princess Margaret’s lady-in-waiting for 31 years, she has ‘little business acumen’ and there are further questions about why there are no St Lucians suitable enough for the role.
Flamboyant Glenconner moved to St Lucia in 1992, having left nearby Mustique. --DailyMail UK.
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