Fiona Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne

Fiona Merritt is the daughter of Donald Merritt and Patricia Phillips (b.1924, later Lady Davies). Donald and Patricia married in 1946 and divorced in 1962. Their daughter Fiona was born in Maldon, Essex in 1954, and married, as his second wife, Charles Petty-Fitzmaurice, Earl of Shelburne in an October 1987 ceremony in Bowood House. She was styled Countess of Shelburne by courtesy until her husband succeeded to his father's titles in 1999. The family seat is Bowood House, Wiltshire, and Lord and Lady Lansdowne have overseen the restoration of the house. A close friend of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, she is godmother of the Queen's daughter, Laura Lopes. ==Royal service==

In 2019, Lady Lansdowne was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Wiltshire. She was High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 2022–2023. She was appointed one of six of 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. She was one of two companions, alongside Lady Sarah Keswick, in attendance at the State Opening of Parliament in November 2023, and again in July 2024. File:Coronation balcony (52877063504) (cropped).jpg|Lady Lansdowne, sixth from right, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, 6 May 2023 File:King's speech 2023 (cropped).jpg|Lady Lansdowne in attendance at the State Opening of Parliament, 7 November 2023 ==Honours==