Miranda Guinness, Countess of Iveagh

Miranda Daphne Jane Guinness, Countess of Iveagh (née Smiley; 19 August 1939 – 30 December 2010) was a Scottish aristocrat who married into the Guinness family.

Life She was the daughter of Major Michael Smiley, of Castle Fraser, Kemnay, Aberdeenshire.

On 12 March 1963, she married Benjamin Guinness, Viscount Elveden (who, in September 1967, became the 3rd Earl of Iveagh)."Miranda Smiley was the most bewitching debutante of her season; gorgeous and glowing with life and humour, she was popular with the girls of her year as much as with men, and, in 1963, made the match she seemed destined for when she married Benjamin Guinness, 3rd Earl of Iveagh. Together, they were London's most dazzling golden couple, while in Ireland, still a social backwater, their glamour was practically divine."

Lord Iveagh was the heir to the Guinness fortune, and he was chairman of the brewing company from 1965 to 1995. In 1976, he had a beer tanker, purpose-built to carry Guinness from the Dublin docks to England, named "The Miranda Guinness" in her honour. In 1979, she was named as one of the world's best-dressed women. he was still married, although separated from his wife.

She celebrated her 70th birthday in August 2010 at a large party in Dublin, attended by many members of the Guinness family. The Guinness Storehouse at St James's Gate was the venue for the party as Iveagh House, which was the old family townhouse in Dublin, is occupied by the Department of Foreign Affairs and was unavailable for the occasion. Attendees included Lord Conyngham, Gay Byrne, the Duke and Duchess of Abercorn, James Mellon, former minister Des O'Malley, Sean Rafferty, and Lord and Lady Rosse.

Death Lady Iveagh died in late December 2010 at the age of 70 at her home, Wilbury House, following a long illness. She was buried alongside her husband in the Guinness family crypt at Elveden, Suffolk.