Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield
Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (short: Patrick Lichfield or Lord Lichfield ; born April 25, 1939 in Staffordshire , England , † November 11, 2005 in Oxford ), was one of the most famous British photographers. He was a long time court photographer and created some of the most iconic pictures of the royal family.
Life
Anson was a second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II . His mother Princess Anne of Denmark was a niece of the Queen's mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon , the Queen Mum . He was the eldest son and heir to Thomas Anson, 4th Earl of Lichfield .
He first attended Harrow School and then entered the British Army . After attending the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , he served in the Grenadier Guards until 1962 .
When his father died in 1960, he inherited his title of nobility as Earl of Lichfield and was thus a member of the House of Lords until the House of Lords reform in 1999 .
After retiring from the army, Anson began working as a photographer's assistant and later as a photographer himself. He quickly developed his own reputation, although access to the royal family naturally helped him. In the 1960s he became world famous for his erotic photographs. One of his most famous erotic images is a promotional photo for the musical Hair , which shows the naked singer Marsha Hunt with an Afro-look hairstyle.
In addition, however, he also repeatedly took official photos of the royal family, for example for the wedding of the Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 and the golden jubilee of Queen Elizabeth in 2002. This made him one of the most famous photographers in the United Kingdom. From 1999 he became one of the pioneers of digital photography on a professional level.
He was a star of the British tabloids because of his easygoing lifestyle and friendship with numerous show stars. From 1975 to 1986 he was married to Lady Leonora Grosvenor , sister of Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster . She comes from one of the wealthiest families in the UK. The marriage has three children, including his heir to the title Thomas Anson, 6th Earl of Lichfield .
Anson collapsed from a stroke on November 10, 2005 while on a shore excursion with friends and died the next day in a clinic in Oxford.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield on thepeerage.com , accessed August 21, 2015.
- ↑ Biography of Patrick Lichfield in the Encyclopedia Britannica
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas Anson |
Earl of Lichfield 1960-2005 |
Thomas Anson |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Anson, Patrick, 5th Earl of Lichfield |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Anson, Thomas Patrick John, 5th Earl of Lichfield (full name); Lichfield, Patrick |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British photographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 25, 1939 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Staffordshire , England |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 11, 2005 |
| Place of death | Oxford |