Edward Downes Edward Downes Sir Edward Thomas ("Ted") Downes, CBE (17 June 1924 – 10 July 2009) was an English conductor, specialising in opera. He was associated with the Royal Opera House from 1952, and with Opera Australia from 1970. He was also well known for his long working relationship with the BBC Philharmonic and for working with the Netherlands Radio Orchestra. Within the field of opera, he was particularly known as a conductor of Verdi. He and his wife, Lady (Joan) Downes, committed assisted suicide at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland on 10 July 2009, an event that received significant media
Joan Vaux (lady-in-waiting) as a child. She met the Dutch philosopher and humanist Erasmus when he paid a visit to the royal children. Erasmus had been so favourably impressed by his conversations with Joan, that years later in 1519, he referred to Joan in a letter to her son, Henry, as "the noble lady your mother", wishing her happiness and prosperity. She was summoned to wait upon Queen Elizabeth for the arrival of Catherine of Aragon in 1501. On one occasion, shortly before the Infanta's marriage to Prince Arthur, Joan is recorded to have partnered the Prince, in a dignified Spanish dance, performed