Annie Palmer is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nadia Sawalha, from 6 May 1997 to 10 June 1999. Storylines When Annie arrived in Albert Square in 1997, she is believed to be a former business associate of George Palmer (Paul Moriarty). Together they open a print shop called "By The Letter" to cover their illegal deals, but Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) catches them hugging. Grant's mother Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) is dating George, so Grant tells her what he has seen; when Peggy confronts George, he tells her that Annie is his daughter. Annie takes over George's nightclub, The Cobra Club, renames it The Market Cellar, and uses it to facilitate her money-laundering operations and illegal gambling. Like her father, Annie is well-connected in the business world; the Palmer name also carries serious clout in the underworld. Annie soon builds herself a small business empire in Albert Square. She gets most of the local council on side and she is instrumental in helping Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) run for a council seat. She owns a significant share of the Walford Health Club with Grant, and starts a loan-shark business with his brother Phil (Steve McFadden), not to mention her continuous dealing in money-laundering scams. Annie is shrewd and smart and completely averse to showing any emotion, which comes from a desperate need to prove that she can cut it in a male-dominated business. She wants to show her father that she can do her job as good as, if not better than, any man. But Annie's tough exterior masks a hidden vulnerability, so she rarely allows men to get close to her. She has flings with Conor Flaherty (Seán Gleeson) (her loan-shark 'heavy') and Phil at the same time, and relishes watching them compete against each other for her affections. She later becomes close to her childhood friend Gianni di Marco (Marc Bannerman), but when they look likely to embark on a serious relationship, Annie's father drops the bombshell that Gianni may be his son. It is revealed that George had had an affair with Gianni's mother Rosa (Louise Jameson) behind Rosa's husband's back, and Gianni's paternity is unknown. The realisation that he could have been having an incestuous relationship with Annie devastates Gianni, and he cuts all ties with both George and Annie. Blood tests later confirm that George isn't Gianni's father, which