Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne

Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck
Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Tenure	16 February 1904 - 23 June 1938 (&1000000000000003400000034 years, &10000000000000127000000127 days)
Predecessor	Frances Smith
Successor	Lady Dorothy Osborne
Spouse	Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Issue
Violet Hyacinth Bowes-Lyon Mary Elphinstone, Lady Elphinstone Patrick Bowes-Lyon, 15th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne John Herbert Bowes-Lyon Alexander Francis Bowes-Lyon Fergus Bowes-Lyon Rose Leveson-Gower, Countess Granville Michael Claude Hamilton Bowes-Lyon Elizabeth, Queen of the United Kingdom David Bowes-Lyon
Father	Charles William Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck
Mother	Caroline Louisa Burnaby
Born	11 September 1862(1862-09-11) London
Died	23 June 1938(1938-06-23) (aged 75) London
Burial	27 June 1938 Glamis Castle

Cecilia Nina Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, GCVO, (11 September 1862 – 23 June 1938) was the mother of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later Queen Elizabeth, and then Queen Mother) and maternal grandmother and godmother of Queen Elizabeth II.

Life

She was born in London,^[1] the eldest daughter of 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 Petersham, Surrey,^[2] and 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.^[3] Her houses were run with meticulous care and a practical approach,^[4] and she was responsible for designing the Italian Garden at Glamis.^[5]

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.^[6] In October 1921 she underwent a hysterectomy,^[7] and by May 1922 she had recovered sufficiently to be able to celebrate the bethrothal of her youngest daughter, Elizabeth, to the King's son, Prince Albert, Duke of York, later George VI, the following January.^[8]

She was deeply religious, a keen gardener and embroiderer, and preferred a quiet, family life. When bothered by pressmen for a photograph during the Edward VIII abdication crisis, she is reported to have said, "I shouldn't waste a photograph on me."^[8]

She suffered a heart attack in April 1938 during the wedding of her granddaughter, Anne Bowes-Lyon, to Thomas Anson, Viscount Anson.^[9] She died 8 weeks later, aged 75, at 38 Cumberland Mansions, Bryanston Street, in London.

Lady Strathmore outlived four of her ten children. She was buried on 27 June 1938 at Glamis Castle.

Styles from birth to death

1862–1881: Miss Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck

1881–1904: Lady Glamis

1904–1938: The Right Honourable The Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne

Notes and sources

1. ^ Census returns of England and Wales 1881, Public Record Office RG11 Folio 0098/114 p.3
2. ^ Civil Registration Indexes: Marriages General Register Office, England and Wales Jul-Sep 1881 Richmond, Surrey vol. 2a p. 549
3. ^ Forbes, p.29
4. ^ Forbes, pp.9, 28
5. ^ Forbes, p.28
6. ^ Vickers, p.46
7. ^ Vickers, p.48
8. ^ ^{a b} The Times (London) Thursday, 23 June 1938; p. 16; col. D
9. ^ Vickers, p.176

References

• Forbes, Grania, My Darling Buffy: The Early Life of The Queen Mother (Headline Book Publishing, 1999) ISBN 9780747273875
• Vickers, Hugo, Elizabeth: The Queen Mother (Arrow Books/Random House, 2006) ISBN 9780099476627

Persondata
Name	Strathmore and Kinghorne, Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	11 September 1862
Place of birth	London
Date of death	23 June 1938
Place of death	38 Cumberland Mansions, Bryanston Street, London