Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu, the woman who bore the royal insignia into the Abbey sanctuary during the Coronation. She is a British nurse, health care administrator, lecturer, and Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London.
She’s a daughter to Onitsha born barrister and former Nigerian Ambassador to Italy and the Vatican, Lawrence Anionwu.
In 1979, Anionwu became the United Kingdom’s first sickle-cell and thalassemia nurse specialist, helping establish the Brent Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Counselling centre. Anionwu, who was a Professor of Nursing at the time, established the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing
Practice at the University of West London in 1998. She is a recipient of the Order of Merit, a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
