Anne Spencer

Commandant Anne Christine "Annie" Spencer, CBE (15 December 1938 – 15 July 2012) was the last Director of the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS), serving in that post from 1991 to 1993.

Early life Spencer was born in Clayton, Yorkshire on 15 December 1938. Her father was a bank manager. She was educated at Newland School for Girls in Kingston upon Hull then the Yorkshire College of Housecraft in Leeds. She learned Italian and applied to the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) to become a stewardess. However, she did not pass the interview stage. By 1964, she had been appointed Quarters Officer, in charge of the WRNS officers' mess at Portsmouth. She served as Director of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) from 1986 to 1989 and as the 17th Director of the WRNS from 1991 to 1993.

Spencer retired from the Royal Navy on 15 December 1993, after which her post was abolished. She was succeeded by the first Chief Naval Officer for Women in the Royal Naval Service, Captain Julia Simpson. She was appointed the Welfare Governor of the King William IV Naval Foundation. Personal life Spencer never married nor did she have any children. Her funeral was held at St Ann's Church, Her Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth. She was appointed Aide-de-Camp to Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1991.