David Bowes-Lyon

The Honourable Sir David Bowes-Lyon KCVO
Portrait by Philip de László, 1931
High Sheriff of Hertfordshire
In office 1950
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Walter Hugh Crosland
Succeeded by	Sir William Acland, Bt
Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire
In office 1952–1961
Monarchs	George VI Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	The Viscount Hampden
Succeeded by	Sir George Burns
Personal details
Born	(1902-05-02)2 May 1902
Died	13 September 1961(1961-09-13) (aged 59) Birkhall, Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Resting place	St. Paul's Walden Bury
Spouse	Rachel Spender-Clay ​ (m. 1929)​
Children	Davina Dalrymple, Countess of Stair Simon Bowes-Lyon
Parent(s)	Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinck
Relatives	Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (sister) Elizabeth II (niece) Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (niece)

Sir David Bowes-Lyon KCVO (2 May 1902^[1] – 13 September 1961) was the tenth and youngest child and the sixth son of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinck. He was the younger brother of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and uncle to Queen Elizabeth II.^[2]

Marriage and issue

On 6 February 1929, David Bowes-Lyon married Rachel Pauline Spender-Clay (19 January 1907 – 21 January 1996), younger daughter of Herbert Henry Spender-Clay, they had two children:

• Davina Katherine Bowes-Lyon (2 May 1930 – 1 November 2017); married on 14 January 1960 John Aymer Dalrymple, Viscount Dalrymple, later 13th Earl of Stair (9 October 1906 – 26 February 1996).
• Sir Simon Alexander Bowes-Lyon (born 17 June 1932); married Caroline Mary Viktoria Pike (born 27 September 1940) on 11 April 1966

Later life

During World War II, Bowes-Lyon was a member of the secret propaganda department Political Warfare Executive. He was High Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1950 and Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire from 1 July 1952^[3] until his death.

On 15 December 1948, Bowes-Lyon attended the christening of his great-nephew Prince Charles. He was one of eight sponsors of the prince, along with King George VI, King Haakon VII of Norway, Queen Mary, Princess Margaret, the Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven, Patricia, Lady Brabourne, and Prince George of Greece and Denmark. ^[4]

As a keen gardener, Bowes-Lyon was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour in 1953 and served as president of the Royal Horticultural Society from 1953 to 1961.^[5][6] In 1960, he commanded the third World Orchid Conference.^[7]

Bowes-Lyon was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the 1959 Birthday Honours.

Death

Bowes-Lyon died at his sister Elizabeth's home, Birkhall, on the Balmoral estate, of a heart attack after suffering from hemiplegia on 13 September 1961, aged 59. The Queen Mother discovered him dead in bed.^[8] The funeral was held at Ballater, and he was buried at St Paul's Walden Bury. His widow died thirty-four years later on 21 January 1996, aged 89.

Ancestry

References