Mary, Dowager Countess of Strathmore, the late Queen Elizabeth II's cousin, has died at 92

The family of Mary, Dowager Countess of Stathmore has revealed that she has passed away at the age of 92. She died in Melrose, a town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders.

According to The Courier, “It is in Angus where her loss will be most keenly felt, after a near 60-year association with Glamis Castle.

“Her late husband, Fergus, inherited the Angus landmark when he became the 17th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in 1972.”

Mary Dowager, Countess of Strathmore was the youngest child of Brigadier Norman McCorquodale and wife Barbara and her name at birth was Mary Pamela McCorquodale. She was born in London, at her grandparents’ house on May 31, 1932.

In 1932, she married Fergus Bowes Lyon, the nephew of the late Queen Mother, the couple wed at Glamis Castle in Angus that played host to many members of the royal family, including the late Queen Elizabeth, Princes Margaret and King Charles, the then Prince Charles.

When they first married, Mary, Dowager, Countess of Strathmore and her husband Fergus lived at The White House, which was situated on the estate of Glamis Castle. Fergus became the 17th Earl of Strathmore in 1972 and the couple moved to Glamis Castle full time in 1975.

The Courier reported that “After her husband’s early death in 1987, Lady Strathmore continued to play a vital role at the castle, providing support to her late son, Michael, the 18th Earl. He predeceased her in 2016 at the age of 58.”

Mary, Dowager Countess of Strathmore’s survivors include her two daughters, Lady Elizabeth Leeming and Lady Diana Godfrey-Faussett, she also had 11 grandchildren, her eldest grandchild is the 19th Earl of Strathmore.

Will there be a Service of Thanksgiving for Mary, Dowager Countess of Strathmore?

A Service of Thanksgiving for Mary, Dowager Countess of Strathmore will take place on Friday May 16 at 2.30pm at St Fergus Kirk in Glamis. In a family statement to The Courier, it read: “A recent kind message sent to Mary just before she died read: ‘Speaking of the ‘best’ I would like to reinforce to you what a marvellous role model and figurehead you have been for Glamis over the years.”