BERN, Mrs Trevor (Elizabeth Ann [Anneli] nee DRUMMOND-HAY) (1937-2022)
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colinp
Aug 2, 2022, 6:52:12 AM8/2/22
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The equestrian Anneli Drummond-Hay has died -
Farewell to one of the greatest equestrians: Anneli Drummond-Hay dies aged 84 - Horse & Hound (horseandhound.co.uk)
One of the sport’s greatest all-round legends, Anneli Drummond-Hay, has died at the age of 84 after a short illness...
[She] emigrated to South Africa in 1971...
She died on 31 July, with her husband Trevor Bern at her side.
From her wikipedia entry:
Anneli Drummond-Hay was born to Lady Margaret Drummond-Hay (née Douglas-Hamilton), daughter of the 13th Duke of Hamilton (1907–1993), and James Drummond-Hay (1905–1981) [scion of the Drummond-Hay of Seggieden gentry family(BLG1965)] in Scotland on 4 August 1937
bx...@yahoo.com
Aug 2, 2022, 8:39:29 AM8/2/22
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Thanks, colinp.
I had seen that she had died, and wondered if she was related to any peerage/baronetage/landed gentry family.
Brooke
Richard R
Aug 4, 2022, 5:20:43 AM8/4/22
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From the Times of 4 Aug 2022: DRUMMOND HAY Anneli died peacefully in Johannesburg on July 31st aged 84, and will be sadly missed.
Richard R
Aug 6, 2022, 4:22:17 AM8/6/22
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Obit in the Times of 6 Aug 2022:
E X T R A C T
Anneli Drummond-Hay obituary
Free-spirited, aristocratic horsewoman who won Badminton and the first Burghley three-day event
...Elizabeth Ann (Anneli) Drummond-Hay was born in Dorset in 1937, the third of James and Lady Margaret Drummond-Hay’s seven children. Baby Ann was nicknamed Anneli by her Swedish nanny. Her father was a major in the army, while her mother ran a polo club in Shaftesbury before the war...
...Although born into Scottish aristocracy to a glamorous socialite mother — the daughter of the 13th Duke of Hamilton — Drummond-Hay always felt ill-equipped for life in high society. The family money had long since evaporated, and the war scuppered her education — “I was illiterate at 11,” she said. Although she was home-schooled alongside local children at her father’s family home, Seggieden House, Perthshire, she was awkward with her peers, preferring time with her pony, Spider, on whom she used to race the Glaswegian miners in “flapping races”. She described the tiny skewbald as an escape from her mother, who mixed a hands-off approach with a fearsome temper...
...One mistake she would admit in hindsight was her first marriage, at 33. She met Errol Wucherpfennig when invited to jump in South Africa. He was a charming but proud businessman, and she knew he wouldn’t cope with life in Europe as “Anneli’s husband”.
Monarch was retiring and with her Olympic ambitions denied, she sold her horses and emigrated with just her trusty Ford horsebox and a mediocre horse that Wucherpfennig liked. She rang her mother to tell of the marriage in a Johannesburg registry office, simply to be asked, “Is he black or white?”
It quickly became clear that Wucherpfennig was overly generous with his affections towards a succession of South African beauty queens, while Drummond-Hay struggled in an unfamiliar country. After ten years of trying to make the marriage work, she received a divorce letter in the post. ..
[She married 2ndly] her long-term partner, fellow South African horseman Trevor Bern...
Anneli Drummond-Hay, showjumper, was born on August 4, 1937. She died from lymphoma on 31 July, 2022, aged 84
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/anneli-drummond-hay-obituary-sc0q5pjsq
E X T R A C T
Anneli Drummond-Hay obituary
Free-spirited, aristocratic horsewoman who won Badminton and the first Burghley three-day event
...Elizabeth Ann (Anneli) Drummond-Hay was born in Dorset in 1937, the third of James and Lady Margaret Drummond-Hay’s seven children. Baby Ann was nicknamed Anneli by her Swedish nanny. Her father was a major in the army, while her mother ran a polo club in Shaftesbury before the war...
...Although born into Scottish aristocracy to a glamorous socialite mother — the daughter of the 13th Duke of Hamilton — Drummond-Hay always felt ill-equipped for life in high society. The family money had long since evaporated, and the war scuppered her education — “I was illiterate at 11,” she said. Although she was home-schooled alongside local children at her father’s family home, Seggieden House, Perthshire, she was awkward with her peers, preferring time with her pony, Spider, on whom she used to race the Glaswegian miners in “flapping races”. She described the tiny skewbald as an escape from her mother, who mixed a hands-off approach with a fearsome temper...
...One mistake she would admit in hindsight was her first marriage, at 33. She met Errol Wucherpfennig when invited to jump in South Africa. He was a charming but proud businessman, and she knew he wouldn’t cope with life in Europe as “Anneli’s husband”.
Monarch was retiring and with her Olympic ambitions denied, she sold her horses and emigrated with just her trusty Ford horsebox and a mediocre horse that Wucherpfennig liked. She rang her mother to tell of the marriage in a Johannesburg registry office, simply to be asked, “Is he black or white?”
It quickly became clear that Wucherpfennig was overly generous with his affections towards a succession of South African beauty queens, while Drummond-Hay struggled in an unfamiliar country. After ten years of trying to make the marriage work, she received a divorce letter in the post. ..
[She married 2ndly] her long-term partner, fellow South African horseman Trevor Bern...
Anneli Drummond-Hay, showjumper, was born on August 4, 1937. She died from lymphoma on 31 July, 2022, aged 84
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/anneli-drummond-hay-obituary-sc0q5pjsq
Ivan Prekajski
Dec 11, 2025, 2:04:22 PM12/11/25
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Who were her siblings?
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