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

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. His paternal grandfather, Lieutenant-Colonel The Honourable Michael Bowes-Lyon, 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. He was raised in Humbie, East Lothian, with his two sisters, Elizabeth and Diana.

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.

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. He served in Northern Ireland and Hong Kong.

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.

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. He retired in 1994 and subsequently lost his seat in November 1999 with the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999. 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.

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.

Personal life

Strathmore was married three times. On 14 November 1984, Lord Glamis, as he was then, married Isobel Charlotte Weatherall (born c. 1962), 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. They had three sons:

Simon Patrick Bowes-Lyon, 19th and 6th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (born 18 June 1986)

The Honourable John Fergus Bowes-Lyon (born 1988), he married Rosanna Eloise “Posy” Brinkley (b. 1990) in 2022; they have one son.

Albemarle John Bowes-Lyon (born 17 April 2023)

The Honourable George Norman Bowes-Lyon (born 1991)

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

The Honourable Toby Peter Fergus Bowes-Lyon (born March 2005)

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

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 behind the Queen Mother's coffin during her funeral procession and attended the private service of committal in the King George VI Memorial Chapel.

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.