Ashley, an exclusive menswear range, with a shop in Notting Hill and outlets throughout Japan. Sir Bernard Ashley was the company chairperson of Laura Ashley and Laura kept a close eye on fabrics. The astonishing success of what proved to be the ultimate cottage industry, bought the Ashleys a yacht, a private plane, a French château in Picardy, a town-house in Brussels, and the villa Contenta in Lyford Cay, New Providence, Bahamas, which in 2006 was offered for sale at $8.5million. In 1985, on her 60th birthday, while she was visiting her children in the UK, Laura fell down the stairs and was rushed to hospital where she died ten days later. Her name lives on through her business. She is buried in the churchyard of St John the Baptist, in Carno, Powys, Wales. In 1990, he married Regine Burnell. He died of cancer on 14 February 2009 and is buried with Laura. References External links Obituary, The Times Laura Ashley company website Brief on Laura Ashley Elenbach company website 1926 births 2009 deaths Businesspeople awarded knighthoods British expatriates in Belgium Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire Deaths from cancer in Wales People educated at Whitgift School 20th-century English businesspeople