Lady of Rock, Chrissie Cobold, Dies at 83

(DailyDig.com) – Lady (Chryssie) Cobbold died on April 7 from pancreatic cancer. She was 83 years old.

David Lytton-Cobbold, her late husband, owned Knebworth House, which was his ancestral home. Chryssie was known as the mistress of the 247-acre Knebworth estate. The home was often open for filming, rock concerts, and medieval jousting.

Many famous bands around the world played at their concert venues, known as the Knebworth Festival. Pink Floyd, Oasis, Queen, and the Rolling Stones were some of the bands who performed there. The last concert Queen gave prior to Freddie Mercury’s death was at Knebworth.

Lady Cobbold was born in 1940 in North Devon, England. Her family included five siblings. Chryssie studied needlework and art at the East Sussex Southover Manor School. She preferred artistic endeavors to academic studies.

In 1957, she was one of the final debutantes to present herself to royalty. She then took her initial employment at Worth, cutting patterns. She once quipped that she enjoyed her well-mannered boyfriends who took her to parties and dances.

Chryssie met David Cobbold at a dance when she was 18 years old, and he invited her to his birthday party to celebrate turning 21. The romance began, and they wed in 1961. They moved into the Knebworth estate and took possession as owners of David’s childhood home. The couple was happy because their humor helped them tolerate each other, keeping them close.

Soon after settling in, the couple opened the estate for public functions in order to secure funds to update it. They began featuring adventure playgrounds and medieval jousting tournaments. They also opened the estate up to movie and television filming.

The decision to use the estate for musical performances turned out to define the legacy of Knebworth. Nearly sixty thousand people attended the first Knebworth Festival to watch such acts as Tim Buckley and Van Morrison.

Other bands performed for the festival, including Cliff Richard, Eric Clapton, Elton John, and the Beach Boys, who performed their last concert prior to Dennis Wilson’s death.

Chryssie’s three sons and daughter survive her.