Lady Jane Willoughby was one of the six
Maids of Honour at the
1953 coronation of Queen
Elizabeth II. Her father was the third and last
Earl of Ancaster. On his death in 1983, the earldom became extinct, but according to the
remainder of ancient
baronies by writ of summons, Lady Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby succeeded as
Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. She became the sixth woman to hold the barony, which is distinguished by its territorial designation from that of
Willoughby de Broke. Lady Willoughby also inherited divided between
Lincolnshire and
Perthshire and in 2008 was ranked 1,572nd in a list of richest people forming the
annual report of the Sunday Times, citing her wealth as £48 million. The annual report includes domiciled and non-domiciled visitors believed to be in the United Kingdom at the start of each year. Her father left net assets subjected to tax to his heirs on his death attested as £1,486,694 (equivalent to £5 million in 2019), but may have transferred assets before his death. In 1987, she became a patron of
King Edward VI School in
Spilsby. A
Deputy Lieutenant for
Lincolnshire (1993–2009), Lady Willoughby was appointed an
Officer of the Order of St John in 2000. On 28 April 2000 she was appointed as Dame of the
Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. She also served as a Trustee of the
National Portrait Gallery from 1994 until 2004. Like most other hereditary peers, Lady Willoughby lost the right to sit in the
House of Lords following the
House of Lords Act 1999 but did not seek to become one of the ninety
elected hereditary peers. However, the office of
Lord Great Chamberlain carries with it an ex officio seat in the House of Lords, although the quarter-share means that she is only a
Joint Hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain, with the possibility of holding the office in every fourth monarch's reign; her relevant family tree back to 1789 features in this regard, as the office was split by decision of the House of Lords between the daughters of
Robert Bertie, 4th Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven (also Marquess of Lindsey and Lord Willoughby de Eresby). In a 2023 episode of BBC Television's
Who Do You Think You Are?,
Lord Lloyd-Webber discovered at
Grimsthorpe Castle that he shares
ancestry with Lady Willoughby, as his 12-times great-grandmother was
Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk at the time of Henry VIII. ==Heirs==