Mary Elphinstone, Lady Elphinstone
Mary Frances Elphinstone, Lady Elphinstone GCVO, was a British aristocrat. She was an elder sister of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and an aunt and godmother of Queen Elizabeth II.
Early life
Lady Elphinstone was born The Honourable Mary Frances Bowes-Lyon on 30 August 1883 in Angus, Scotland, to Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck. She was an elder sister of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon known as Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom.Personal life
Lady Mary married Sidney Elphinstone, 16th Lord Elphinstone on 24 July 1910 in Westminster. Lord Elphinstone inherited extensive estates, some of which had been in the family since the reign of King David II of Scotland. He served as a governor of the Bank of Scotland, Lord Clerk Register of Scotland and Keeper of the Signet and Lord High Commissioner of the Church of Scotland. The couple had five children:- The Hon. Mary Elizabeth Elphinstone, who was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Prince Albert, Duke of York, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923.
- John Elphinstone, 17th Lord Elphinstone
- The Hon. Jean Constance Elphinstone, who married Captain John Lycett Wills. Their daughter Marilyn was a god-daughter of Princess Margaret and a bridesmaid at her 1960 wedding.
- The Rev. The Hon. Andrew Charles Victor Elphinstone, who married Jean Frances Hambro and had issue. His wife was a Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth II.
- The Hon. Margaret Elphinstone, who married Denys Rhodes and had issue. She was a bridesmaid at the 1947 wedding of the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
Lord Elphinstone died at their home Carberry Tower, Musselburgh, on 28 November 1955. Lady Elphinstone, who served as president of the Midlothian branch of the British Red Cross, died on 8 February 1961, aged 77, also at Carberry Tower in Inveresk, Scotland.