Princess Margaret’s confidante
JANE Stevens was Princess Margaret’s lady-in-waiting and confidante, and the muse of royal couturier Sir Norman Hartnell.
A high-society beauty and debutante who was married to publisher Jocelyn Stevens for 23 years, Jane was also supermodel Cara Delevingne’s grandmother.
Janie, as she was known, had a spirited personality.
Her daughter Pandora, Cara’s mother, said following her death: “She was stunning, elegant and had a great sense of fun.
“She was passionate about so many things. She loved horse racing and was really good at tennis, playing until two years ago.”
She was born Jane Armyne Sheffield to JohnVincent Sheffield and Ann Margaret Faudel-Phillips, the descendent of baronets on both sides of the family.
Janie made her society debut in 1955 at Laverstoke and married Stevens at Holy Trinity, Brompton, in South Kensington a year later.
Stevens bought and revamped Queen magazine in 1957 and hired Princess Margaret’s future husband Antony Armstrong-Jones as a photographer.
The couple lived a lavish lifestyle in Europe and the Bahamas, and had four children.
Janie wrote a column called Serendipity inVogue magazine, which was about discovering new things in London, and received clothes from Sir Norman Hartnell.
Three years after her 1979 divorce from Jocelyn, Janie was asked by Princess Margaret to become her lady-in-waiting.The two women became lifelong friends.
Speaking after the princess’s death in 2002, Janie said that there was “never a dull moment” with the Queen’s sister.
Janie’s son Rupert died of heart disease at the age of 24. She is survived by her other children Charles, Pandora and Melinda.