The younger brother ofthe Queen Mother (born Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon), this aristocrat led a somewhat scandalous life.
This is the life of David Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother’s little brother.
“The Bowes-Lyons were a very old family going back to God knows whom in Scotland.
The sister and brother were born less than two years apart, in 1900 and 1902, respectively.
The siblings and their family vacationed at Glamis Castle in Scotland, their family’s ancestral home.
Their childhood was, by all accounts, idyllic.
After less than a year on the throne, he abdicated to make it marryAmerican divorcee Wallis Simpson.
In aradio address, Bowes-Lyon offered a somewhat hyperbolic description of the unit.
Bowes was eventually posted to Washington, D.C. What’s more, British historian John Wheeler-Bennett claimed that Bowes-Lyon took secret photostats of confidential documents.
David Bowes-Lyon was equally unkind.
“He had it in for Philip completely from the start,” she said.
“He was completely against him.”
Of course, the future monarch ignored that criticism;Elizabeth and Philip were wedin Westminster Abbey in 1947.
The first of these was his christening.
The event itself took place within the confines of the Music Room at Buckingham Palace.
“David Bowes-Lyon is a vicious little fellow,” she said.
Where do surprises end?”
Meanwhile, the former king now Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor was appointed governor of the Bahamas.
The abdication had made the ex-king persona non grata in England.
Among his most ardent enemies was his brother’s wife, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
If that were the case, it would be a bad look for the queen’s brother-in-law.
Ultimately, Bowes-Lyon’s sneaky efforts to blindside the Duke of Windsor fell flat.
Before that, he served as treasurer of the RHS.
That wasn’t the only title that he held.
In 1952, Bowes-Lyon became Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire.
He kept the title for the remainder of his life.
When his sister checked on him in his room, she discovered his lifeless body.
He was 59 years old.
His funeral was held at St. Paul’s Church in Hertfordshire, where he was buried.
