Diana Denyse Hay, 23rd Countess of Erroll (5 January 1926 – 16 May 1978) was a British noblewoman.
Early life
Diana was the only child of
Josslyn, Earl of Errol and his first wife
Lady Idina Sackville
Lady Myra Idina Sackville-West (26 February 1893 – 5 November 1955) was an English Aristocracy (class), aristocrat and member of the Happy Valley set. Divorced five times, Lady Idina's behaviour and lifestyle scandalised upper-class Edwardian ...
. She was born in Kenya. Their home was a bungalow on the slopes of the
Aberdare Range which they called ''Slains'', after the former Hay family seat of
Slains Castle which was sold by Hay's grandfather, the
20th Earl, in 1916. The bungalow was sited alongside the high altitude farms which other white Kenyans were establishing at the time.
When her mother divorced her father in 1930, she was taken home to England to be raised firstly by her uncle
The Earl De La Warr and then by her aunt, Lady Avice Sackville, in
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
.
Career
When her father was murdered in 1941, she inherited the
earldom of Erroll and the
lordship of Hay, while the
barony of Kilmarnock, which could only be inherited by a male heir, passed to her uncle Gilbert Boyd. She also inherited the hereditary position
Lord High Constable of Scotland
The Lord High Constable is a hereditary, now ceremonial, office of Scotland. In the order of precedence of Scotland, the office traditionally ranks above all titles except those of the royal family.p60-61, Bruce, Alistair, Keepers of the Kingdo ...
.
After the passing of the
Peerage Act 1963
The Peerage Act 1963 (c. 48) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that permits female hereditary peers and all Scottish hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords and allows newly inherited hereditary peerages to be disclaimed. ...
which allowed ''
suo jure
''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...
'' peeresses to take a seat in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
, Lady Erroll did so, with eleven other peeresses.
Personal life
On 19 December 1946, at
St Margaret's, Westminster
The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret the Virgin, Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Pal ...
, Lady Erroll married
Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk, the Chief of
Clan Moncreiffe and a
herald
A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms.
Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen ...
at the
Court of the Lord Lyon
The Court of the Lord Lyon, or Lyon Court, is a standing court of law, based in New Register House in Edinburgh, which regulates heraldry in Scotland. The Lyon Court maintains the register of grants of arms, known as the Public Register of All ...
.
Together, they were the parents of three children:
*
Merlin Sereld Victor Gilbert, 24th Earl of Erroll (b. 1948), who married Belgian born Isabelle Jacqueline Laline Astell Hohler, in 1982.
* Hon.
Peregrine David Euan Malcolm Moncreiffe of that Ilk (b. 1951), who became Chief of
Clan Moncreiffe and who married Miranda Mary Fox-Pitt, in 1988.
* Lady Alexandra Victoria Caroline Anne Moncreiffe Hay (b. 1955), who married Jolyon Connell.
Second marriage
Moncreiffe and Lady Erroll were divorced in 1964 and on 27 November that year, she married
Maj. Raymond Carnegie (b. 1920) in
Lonmay. Carnegie was a grandson of
Charles Carnegie, 7th Earl of Southesk. Together, they were the parents of one son:
* Hon. Jocelyn Jacek Alexander Bannerman Carnegie (b. 1966), who married Susan Mhairie Butler in 1990.
Lady Erroll died in 1978, aged 52.
Her titles passed to her eldest son, Merlin, the incumbent Earl of Erroll. The cause of death has never been publicly disclosed.
References
Sources
Genealogy website
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erroll, Diana Hay, 23rd Countess of
1926 births
1978 deaths
23
Hereditary women peers
Scottish countesses
Wives of baronets
Lord high constables of Scotland
20th-century British women politicians
20th-century Scottish politicians
20th-century Scottish women
Female hereditary members of the House of Lords