Princess Diana‘s longest serving Lady in Waiting has been banned from driving after being caught speeding for the fourth time.
Anne Beckwith-Smith, 74, fought to keep her licence, insisting she needed it to drive from her £2.2m property in Onslow Square, South Kensington to visit her ailing brother in Wiltshire.
However, Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court found a disqualification would not cause her ‘exceptional hardship’ and she received a six month ban.
She has also been fined her £307, with £130 costs and ordered her to pay a £123 victim surcharge.
Beckwith-Smith pleaded guilty to driving her blue Audi Q2 in South Street, Wilton, Salisbury, Wiltshire at 36mph in a 30mph zone on August 7, last year.
She told the court her brother James Merton Beckwith-Smith, 77, resides in Milford House care home and a ban would impact her ability to regularly visit him.
However, she did not reveal in her evidence the existence of her second property, the Grade II-listed Bishopstone House, Salisbury, which has been in the family for many years.
It is only a fifteen minute taxi ride from the care home, which prosecutor Oliver Hall was quick to pick up on.
Anne Beckwith-Smith was Princess Diana ’s longest-serving Lady-in-Waiting, holding the position from 1981 to 1997 (pictured together in 1991)
Beckwith-Smith, 74, fought to keep her licence, insisting she needed it to drive from her £2.2m property in Onslow Square, South Kensington to visit her ailing brother in Wiltshire. Pictured: Beckwith-Smith leaving Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court
However, Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court found a disqualification would not cause her ‘exceptional hardship’ and she received a six month ban. Pictured: Beckwith-Smith leaving Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court
‘Do you have an address in Salisbury?’ asked prosecutor Mr Hall. ‘Why haven’t you mentioned that?
‘You took an oath to tell the truth. Didn’t you think it was relevant to mention that?’.
‘Nobody asked me,’ replied Beckwith-Smith, who stressed the loss of her licence would cause considerable hardship because she lives in London, eighty miles away from her brother.
‘You could have a nice summer in the country, couldn’t you?’ asked Mr Hall, mentioning the weather was particularly pleasant today.
‘Well, what’s tomorrow going to be like?’ asked Beckwith-Smith, stressing life away from London would be devastating for her socially.
The court heard at the time of the offence Beckwith-Smith had nine penalty points on her driving licence for three speeding offences on October 11 and 18, 2022 and April 15, 2025.
‘That’s why I’m here,’ she replied when asked if she knew today’s three points would trigger an automatic six-month ban.
‘The impact it would have, particularly on my severely disabled brother, who is seventy-seven. He lives in a care home just outside Salisbury, Wiltshire.
‘Salisbury is eighty to ninety miles from London and I try and go two or three times a week.
‘I am his only next-of-kin. I am unmarried, he is unmarried and I deal with all of his financial affairs, health affairs, his well-being generally.
‘He is autistic basically and as age crept on he is more autistic and routine is vital in his life.
‘He has been in the care home for three years and they have had three different managers and it is important they know his needs and I communicate with the care staff regularly.
‘They are always changing. They have notes, but nobody reads them and now it is all on iPad and I don’t know how easy it is.
‘I ensure his routine is kept to the basics,’ added Beckwith-Smith, explaining her visits usually last two or three hours or can be simply ‘dropping in.’
‘I like to do that because it keeps them on their toes.
‘I do have family nearby, but they have their own care problems, an eighty-nine year-old mother with mobility problems and slight dementia and two children.
‘They will go in occasionally, but I have Power of Attorney.
‘It would be a train from London to Salisbury and there are taxis from the station to the care home.
‘He has a catheter and if there is a problem, if ever I have to get there it would be inconvenient.
‘Public transport in Salisbury, Wiltshire is not as good as it is in London.
‘It has happened in the last month. I was rung up to say there was a problem with his catheter.
‘They feel they have to ring at any opportunity and I feel I have to get there to reassure him.
‘We watch the horse racing on television and that reassures him and from my point of view that is important. He likes that routine.
‘I could get a taxi from London I suppose, but I have not looked into that.
‘The stress, I think, would be quite considerable. I have never been in this position before, getting to the age I am it would be quite catastrophic, but I know you don’t take that into consideration.
‘We are incredibly well-provided with public transport in London. It is getting to friends and family in the country.’
Princess Diana in her sitting room at home in Kensington Palace with Beckwith-Smith in 1986
She reminded the court that the two oldest speeding offences have dropped off her licence, adding: ‘I apologise for wasting all your time on this.
‘I should stress it would be a hardship for my brother. I have mobility, I can walk, I can get on buses in London.’
The prosecutor also worked out a bus journey from her Salisbury home to her brother would take approximately forty-four minutes, but Beckwith-Smith insisted this would be unsuitable.
‘There is a bus that goes from Milford House. It is a very narrow and dangerous short-cut that people use to avoid Salisbury,’ she told the court.
‘Then there is a three-hundred to four-hundred yard walk along an unpaved road. I personally would not want to walk along that road at any time of day or night.’
When asked about her financial position she replied: ‘I’m comfortable,’ agreeing she can afford train and taxi fares.
Mr Hall suggested: ‘You could get a fifteen minute taxi to the care home in the event of an emergency couldn’t you?’
Beckwith-Smith replied that relocating full-time to Salisbury would not work for her.
‘It would not be terribly convenient. Social life would impact on me personally,’ she said.
When asked further about the impact of a disqualification Beckwith-Smith said: ‘I believe it would be quite considerable.’
Bench Chairwoman Isobel Vass announced: ‘We are not going to find “exceptional hardship”.
‘We do not underestimate the medical and care needs of your brother in the care home.
‘We note your dedication and commitment to visit him regularly, but we find you will be able to live in the area several days a week to meet your obligations.
‘I must warn you not to use any motorised vehicles during this period. There is a risk you could be brought back to court and punished.
‘The points will come off due to the disqualification. You will be absolutely free.’
Beckwith-Smith was the late Princess of Wales’ longest-serving Lady-in-Waiting, and held the position from 1981 to Diana’s tragic death in 1997.
By 1986, she also served as an Assistant Private Secretary and in 1990 she was appointed a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order for her service.
She went onto work for the Tate Modern.
A Lady-in-Waiting is a personal attendant to a female member of the Royal Family, acting as a trusted companion, secretary, and aide.
In 2022, Queen Consort Camilla scrapped the position of lady-in-waiting at Buckingham Palace, bringing to an end a centuries-old tradition.
Ladies-in-waiting played a key part in Royal life, accompanying the late Queen and her sister Princess Margaret, as well as Diana, on official duties and foreign tours.
But in a sign of the Camilla’s unfussy approach, they will be replaced by six aides styled ‘Queen’s Companions’.
As Kate prepares to be Queen, she is expected to follow Camilla’s lead in using the modern and less formal term.
