Confidante who lived next door

As godmother to Prince Andrew and mother-in-law of Britain's richest man, Lady Kennard, 82, is one of the best connected women in the country.

She is a distant cousin of the Queen and one of her closest friends. They lived next door to each other in Belgravia as children and shared a passion for horses.

One of her grandfathers was Grand Duke Michael of Russia, and the other was Julius Wernher, the South African diamond millionaire.

Lady Kennard's parents, Sir Harold and Lady Zia Wernher, owned Luton Hoo where they entertained the Queen and Prince Philip on their 1947 honeymoon and subsequent anniversaries. Lady Kennard was said to have been one of Prince Philip's girlfriends before he caught the eye of her friend.

In 1944 she married Harold Phillips, a lieutenant colonel in the Coldstream Guards, who died in 1980.

They had four daughters, the eldest of whom, Sasha, 55, is the Duchess of Abercorn and the youngest, Tally, 42, is married to billionaire landowner the Duke of Westminster.

Her son Nicky, who ran the Luton Hoo estate, was found dead in a fume-filled car in 1991 after hitting financial problems. The following year the then Georgina Phillips married Sir George Kennard, who died in 1999.