Cecilia Nina Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne (' Cavendish-Bentinck; 11 September 1862 – 23 June 1938) was the mother of
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, maternal grandmother and godmother of
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
, and great-grandmother to
King Charles III
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
.
Life
She was born in
Belgravia
Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...
,
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
, the eldest daughter of the Rev.
Charles Cavendish-Bentinck (grandson of British Prime Minister
William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland
William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, (14 April 173830 October 1809) was a British Whig and then a Tory politician during the late Georgian era. He served as Chancellor of the University of Oxford (1792–1809) ...
) and his wife,
Louisa (née Burnaby).
On 16 July 1881, she married
Claude Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis, at
St Peter's Church,
Petersham, Surrey, and they had ten children. Claude inherited his father's title of
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne is a title in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was first created as Earl of Kinghorne in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom c ...
in 1904, whereupon Cecilia became Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
The Strathmore estates included two grand houses and their surroundings:
Glamis Castle
Glamis Castle is situated beside the village of Glamis (, ) in Angus, Scotland. It is the home of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and is open to the public.
Glamis Castle has been the home of the Lyon family since the 14th century, thoug ...
and
St Paul's Walden Bury
St. Paul's Walden Bury is an English country house and surrounding gardens in the village of St Paul's Walden in Hertfordshire. The house is a Grade II* listed, and the gardens Grade I.
A home of the Bowes-Lyon family, it is possibly the site of ...
. 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
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Glamis Castle served as a convalescent hospital for the wounded, in which she took an active part until she developed
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
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
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...
, later George VI.
[''The Times (London)'' Thursday, 23 June 1938; p. 16; col. D] When asked by pressmen for a photograph during the
Edward VIII abdication crisis
In early December 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire arose when King-Emperor Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was pursuing the divorce of her second ...
, 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.
[Vickers, p. 176] She died 8 weeks later at 38 Cumberland Mansions, Bryanston Street, in London, at the age of 75. Lady Strathmore outlived four of her ten children. She was buried on 27 June 1938 at
Glamis Castle
Glamis Castle is situated beside the village of Glamis (, ) in Angus, Scotland. It is the home of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and is open to the public.
Glamis Castle has been the home of the Lyon family since the 14th century, thoug ...
.
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);
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strathmore and Kinghorne, Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of
Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne
British countesses
Scottish countesses
Dames Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Dames of Grace of the Order of St John
1862 births
1938 deaths
Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne
People from Westminster
19th-century Scottish people
19th-century Scottish women
20th-century Scottish people
20th-century Scottish women
Wives of knights