Shirley Paget, Marchioness of Anglesey
Elizabeth Shirley Vaughan Morgan Paget, Marchioness of Anglesey (4 December 1924 – 21 January 2017), known as Dame Shirley Paget, was a British public servant and writer.
She was born in Chelsea, London, the daughter of writers Charles Langbridge Morgan and Hilda Vaughan. She grew up in Notting Hill with her brother Roger and studied at Francis Holland School and Malvern St James. During World War II the family moved to America, where she finished her schooling at Kent Place School in New Jersey.
She began her career in the Foreign Office as personal secretary to Gladwyn Jebb. In 1948 she married Henry Paget, 7th Marquess of Anglesey, and they had five children. As Marchioness she held several public roles: president of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (1966–1969), a board member of the British Council (1985–1995), chairman of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (1987–1991), and vice-chairman of the Museums and Galleries Commission (1989–1996). She also wrote The Countrywoman's Year (1960).
She and her husband attended the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952. She was honoured with CBE in 1977, DBE in 1983, and LVO in 1993.
Henry Paget died in 2013; Dame Shirley Paget died in 2017 at Moorlands Lodge nursing home in Hindhead, Surrey, aged 92.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 12:14 (CET).