Lady Margaret Egerton

Lady-in-waiting to Princess Elizabeth

The death of Queen Elizabeth II heralded an enormous amount of coverage of her life in both the press and on television. One tiny detail amongst this huge coverage revealed that in 1947 her lady-in-waiting was Lady Margaret Egerton. At the time of her marriage to John Colville (1948), both bride and groom were aides to the young Princess Elizabeth. She enjoyed the unusual distinction of having served as a lady-inwaiting to both the Queen, when she was Princess Elizabeth, and then almost half a century later, to the Queen Mother.

Born Margaret Egerton, on 20 July, 1918, the fth daughter of the 4th Earl of Ellesmere was brought up on the family estate at Mertoun House; she had one brother, who later became the Duke of Sutherland. She was educated privately at Mertoun, and spent much of her youth shing the Tweed. Always known as Meg, for much of the war years, she spent her time as a clerk in the Scottish Command in Edinburgh, as a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service.

“She was appointed a lady-in-waiting [21 May 1946] to Princess Elizabeth, the Duchess of Edinburgh (to give her full title) and accompanied her on a tour to South Africa [Feb. 1947]. The tour was a big success. … Princess Elizabeth had already met her future husband, Philip; Princess Margaret met Peter Townsend on the trip; and Meg met Jock Colville, Elizabeth’s private secretary, who had been Churchill’s secretary at the end of the war….

… Lady Margaret proved a most discreet adviser to the young Princess Elizabeth and helped in her rst major public engagements. She was also in attendance at the future Queen’s marriage and provided much support in the heady days prior to the ceremony.”

Meg and Jock were married at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, on 20 October 1948. Their wedding was a big social occasion, with thousands of onlookers crowding around the church and across Westminster Square. Guests included Queen Mary (then the Queen Mother), King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh (one month before the birth of Prince Charles), and Mr and Mrs Winston Churchill. Princess Margaret was chief bridesmaid. “Jock returned to work at the Foreign O ce and the couple were posted to Lisbon. In 1951, they were home on leave and at Newmarket races when Colville was called to the phone and asked to return to No.10 to take up the post of Churchill’s principal private secretary.”

By then, Churchill was ailing and having di culty with his hearing. “However, he found much relaxation with Lady Margaret as they both had a love of bezique and played it long into the night.” As he gradually declined in health, he received few visitors, but Meg and Jock did visit him and paid their respects to him on his deathbed at the family’s request.

Lady Margaret served the Queen Mother certainly up to December 1995. She died on 3 May 2004, in Hampshire, aged 85. Lady Margaret (Egerton) Colville is survived by a daughter and two sons.

Written by Paul Speakman, Worsley