Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne

Life

Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinck was born on 11 September 1862 at 50 Eaton Place in Belgravia, Westminster, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Charles Cavendish-Bentinck (grandson of British Prime Minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland) and his wife, Louisa (née Burnaby).

On 16 July 1881, she married Claude Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis, at St Peter's Church, Petersham, Surrey. They had ten children. Claude inherited his father's title of Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in 1904, whereupon Cecilia became Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne.

The Strathmore estates included two grand houses and their surroundings: Glamis Castle and St Paul's Walden Bury. Cecilia was a gregarious and accomplished hostess who played the piano exceptionally well. Her houses were run with meticulous care and a practical approach, and she was responsible for designing the Italian Garden at Glamis. She was deeply religious, a keen gardener and embroiderer, and preferred a quiet family life.

During World War I, Glamis Castle served as a convalescent hospital for the wounded, in which she took an active part until she developed cancer and was forced into invalidity. In October 1921 she underwent a hysterectomy, and by May 1922 was in recovery. In January 1923 she celebrated the engagement of her youngest daughter, Elizabeth, to the King's son, Prince Albert, Duke of York, later George VI. When asked by pressmen for a photograph during the Edward VIII abdication crisis, she reportedly said, "I shouldn't waste a photograph on me." At the coronation of their son-in-law and daughter, the Earl and the Countess were seated in the royal box, along with the immediate royal family.

Death

Lady Strathmore suffered a heart attack in April 1938 during the wedding of her granddaughter, Anne Bowes-Lyon (later Princess of Denmark), to Viscount Anson. She died eight weeks later on 23 June at 38 Cumberland Mansions, near Bryanston Square in London, aged 75. Lady Strathmore outlived four of her ten children. She was buried on 27 June at Glamis Castle.

Issue

Ancestry

References

Sources

• Davies, Edward J., "Some Connections of the Birds of Warwickshire", The Genealogist, 26(2012):58–76
• Forbes, Grania, My Darling Buffy: The Early Life of The Queen Mother (Headline Book Publishing, 1999);
• Vickers, Hugo, Elizabeth: The Queen Mother (Arrow Books/Random House, 2006);

References

1. (16 September 1862). "Births.". Morning Post.
2. Davies, p. 74
3. ''Civil Registration Indexes: Marriages'' General Register Office, England and Wales Jul–Sep 1881 Richmond, Surrey vol. 2a, p. 549; White, G. H. (1953) ''The Complete Peerage'': Volume XII Part I, p. 402. (St. Catherine Press, London)
4. (11 June 1931). "When Lord Strathmore Married". Dundee Courier.
5. Forbes, p. 29
6. Forbes, pp. 9, 28
7. Forbes, p. 28
8. Vickers, p. 46
9. Vickers, p. 48
10. ''The Times (London)'' Thursday, 23 June 1938; p. 16; col. D
11. Vickers, p. 176
12. "(14th) Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne 1855-1944". Thompson Family Genealogy.
13. Vickers, p. 7.
14. Forbes, p. 3.
15. Vickers, p. 13.
16. Vickers, p. 320.
17. (30 March 2012). "The Queen Mother in pictures". The Daily Telegraph.
18. (2021-01-21). "Lady Mary Colman, cousin of the Queen and dedicated supporter of Norfolk good causes – obituary". The Telegraph.