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). Cecilia Bowes-Lyon - Philip de László

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

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