Michael Bowes-Lyon, 18th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
Honorific-Suffix:DL
Office1:Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Lords
Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard
Monarch1:Elizabeth II
Primeminister1:John Major
Term Start1:30 December 1991
Term End1:20 July 1994
Predecessor1:The Viscount Davidson
Successor1:The Earl of Arran
Office4:Member of the House of Lords
Status4:Lord Temporal
Term Label4:as a hereditary peer
Term Start4:20 August 1987
Term End4:11 November 1999
Predecessor4:The 17th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Successor4:Seat abolished
Birth Date:7 June 1957
Birth Place:Windsor, Berkshire, England
Death Place:London, England
Residence:Glamis Castle
Nationality:British
Allegiance: United Kingdom
Serviceyears:1980–1984
Rank:Captain
Unit:Scots Guards

Michael Fergus Bowes-Lyon, 18th and 5th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, (7 June 1957 – 27 February 2016), styled Lord Glamis between 1972 and 1987, also known as Mikey Strathmore, was a British Conservative politician, Scots Guards officer and stockbroker. He was a first cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II.

Early life and education

Strathmore was born on 7 June 1957 in Windsor, the only son of Fergus Bowes-Lyon, later 17th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and his wife, Mary Pamela McCorquodale (born 1932). His paternal grandfather, Lieutenant-Colonel The Honourable Michael Claude Hamilton Bowes-Lyon (1893–1957), was an elder brother of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, thus making Michael a first cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. He served as the Queen Mother's page of honour from 1971 to 1973 and often stayed with her at the Castle of Mey and the Royal Lodge, Windsor.[1] He was raised in Humbie, East Lothian, with his two sisters, Elizabeth and Diana.[2]

He was educated at Sunningdale School and Eton College before reading Land Economy at the University of Aberdeen. He attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[1] [2]

Career

After Sandhurst, Strathmore was commissioned in the Scots Guards in 1980. He held the rank of lieutenant and was later promoted to captain in 1984.[2] He served in Northern Ireland and Hong Kong.[1]

He left the army in 1984, going to work in the City of London for the stock brokerage firm Strauss Turnbull. In 1987, Strathmore succeeded his father as 18th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and inherited Holwick Hall in Teesdale, County Durham, and Glamis Castle, the Queen Mother's girlhood home, in Angus.[2] [3] [4]

He took his seat in the House of Lords. He served as a lord-in-waiting from 1989 to 1992 and served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard and Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Lords in the First Major ministry. His achievements included the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty by the Lords.[1] [2] He retired in 1994 and subsequently lost his seat in November 1999 with the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999.[5] After resigning his ministerial post, Strathmore sat on the board of Polypipe from 1994 until it was acquired by IMI plc in 1999. He was a member of White's and Pratt's.[6]

He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Angus on 19 April 1993. He also served as president of Boys' Brigade from 1994 to 1999 and as patron of the Friends of the Bowes Museum in County Durham, a position he inherited from the Queen Mother.[1] [7]

Personal life

Strathmore was married thrice. On 14 November 1984, Lord Glamis, as he was then, married Isobel Charlotte Weatherall (born), great-granddaughter of Henry Keswick and sister of Percy Weatherall, at St James's Church, Piccadilly, with the Queen Mother in attendance. Strathmore and Weatherall were separated in 2003 and divorced in 2005.[6] They had three sons:

On 24 November 2005, Strathmore married Damaris Stuart-William, a clinical psychologist. They were separated in 2007 and divorced in 2008.[1] They had one son:

On 4 August 2012, Strathmore married Karen Baxter (née Orrock), who survived him.[2]

As a hobby, he restored old automobiles and lorries, often featuring in the Strathmore Vintage Vehicle Rally. In 2002, as the head of the Bowes-Lyon family, he walked begin the Queen Mother's coffin during her funeral procession and attended the private service of committal in the King George VI Memorial Chapel.[1]

Strathmore died of colorectal cancer on 27 February 2016 in London, aged 58. A memorial service was held at the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Middleton-in-Teesdale, near his County Durham properties, on 12 May and another, attended by Prince Charles, was held at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London on 8 June.[8] [9]

Arms

Crest:Between two Slips of Laurel a Demi Lady to the girdle habited and holding in her right hand a Thistle all proper
Coronet:A Coronet of an Earl
Escutcheon:Quarterly: 1st and 4th, Argent a Lion rampant Azure armed and langued Gules within a Double Tressure flory counterflory of the second (Lyon); 2nd and 3rd, Ermine three Bows strings palewise proper (Bowes); as a Royal Augmentation, granted to the holder of the Earldom only, an Inescutcheon en surtout Azure thereon a Rose Argent barbed Vert seeded Or ensigned with an Imperial Crown proper within a Double Tressure flory counterflory of the second, the said Inescutcheon ensigned with an Earl's Coronet proper
Supporters:On the dexter side a Unicorn Argent armed unguled maned and tufted Or, and on the sinister side a Lion per fess Or and Gules
Motto:In Te Domine Speravi (In Thee, O Lord, have I put my trust)

Notes and References

  1. News: The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne - obituary . 3 August 2024 . The Telegraph . 29 February 2016.
  2. News: The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne . 4 August 2024 . The Sunday Times . 2 March 2016.
  3. News: MacFarland . Katie . Queen's cousin and County Durham landowner, Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne Michael Bowes-Lyon, dies of cancer aged 58 . 6 August 2024 . The Northern Echo . 29 February 2016.
  4. News: Obituary: Michael Bowes-Lyon, 18th Earl of Strathmore and businessman . 6 August 2024 . The Scotsman . 29 February 2016.
  5. News: Steven . Alastair . The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne . The Herald . 2 March 2016.
  6. News: Right to live in Glamis Castle is at centre of (pounds) 5m divorce battle Countess wants to stay in current home for 12 years . 6 August 2024 . The Herald . 10 March 2004.
  7. Web site: Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne . The Boys' Brigade . 6 August 2024.
  8. News: MacFarland . Katie . Dozens remember the 18th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne at memorial service . 4 August 2024 . The Northern Echo . 12 May 2016.
  9. News: Court Circular, June 8 . 4 August 2024 . The Times . 9 June 2016.