Aussie scandalised royal family

The Dowager Countess of Harewood, who has died aged 91, was an Australian violinist and fashion model who became embroiled in the biggest royal scandal since the Abdication when she gave birth to the Earl of Harewood’s son in 1964 while he was married to his first wife.

Today, it is hard to explain the shock that this caused. Lord Harewood, grandson of George V and a first cousin of the Queen, was effectively banned from court for several years; the couple were forced to marry abroad, and only gradually was the new Lady Harewood accepted into the royal family. She coped with supreme dignity, giving the 7th Earl of Harewood half a century of great happiness until his death in July 2011.

Patricia Elizabeth Tuckwell was born in Prahran, a suburb of Melbourne. Her father, Charles, was a theatre organist who was forever on the move and the family lived in 30 locations in 20 years. He and his organ would rise out of the pit and Patricia’s mother Elizabeth would put black boot polish on his bald spot because it was the first thing to come into view. In 1931 Patricia acquired a brother, Barry, who became a leading horn player.

She was educated for two days at Loreto Mandeville Hall in Toorak, but was considered too delicate for school and was then raised by a series of governesses until the family moved to New Zealand. Aged 16, she gained a place as a violinist in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, where she was given the nickname Bambi by the flautist Neville Amadio.

She and a friend were spotted by the magazine editor Iris Dexter, a former war correspondent, and she was soon on the cover of Woman’s Daily. She was a favourite of the Melbourne photographer Athol

Shmith, who posed her in Dior cocktail dresses and silk shantung evening dresses. They were married in 1948 when she was 21 and their son, Michael, was born the following year.

At this point she gave up her musical career and opened the Bambi Smith Modelling School. She also appeared in a number of television programmes for Melbourne’s first television station, HSV-Channel 7. The Shmiths divorced in 1958 and for some years she was kept away from her son.

Her life was changed by a chance meeting with Harewood in the Air France terminal at Milan Airport in 1959 when both were flying to Paris. They had to take a bus to Turin. Harewood offered to carry her violin, but she would only let him carry her bag. As she related: ‘‘We got talking on the plane, and we’ve never stopped talking since.’’

Difficult years followed. Harewood was still married and had young children. Happy though he was with Patricia – ‘‘the sheer joy of being in love’’ – he was riddled with guilt and despaired at finding an outcome. Additionally, he was a member of the royal family; his mother, the Princess Royal, was aware of the affair and quietly disapproving. His wife was reluctant to grant a divorce. Their son, Mark Lascelles, was born out of wedlock in July 1964. Eventually a divorce was agreed, and the couple married in Connecticut in July 1967.

Patricia had not been to Harewood House, in Yorkshire, before her marriage. It was a daunting experience and it took her two days to look around the house and its estate. There were light moments, such as when the house carpenter warned her that a particular fourposter bed should not be used because it would collapse from any ‘‘undue activity’’.

She soon settled in, and even took to football, becoming club patron of Leeds United. She was also president of the Leeds Philharmonic Society and the Friends of Opera North.

Perhaps her greatest achievement was the creation of Harewood’s bird garden, which created not only a visitor attraction but also a centre for the re-establishment of rare breeds and bird conservation. It opened in 1970 and, as a result, visitor numbers to Harewood rose from 64,000 to 263,000. In 2009 their black palm cockatoos became the first to breed in Britain. She tried to teach them to say ‘‘G’day mate’’ or ‘‘No worries’’ rather than ‘‘Hello luv’’.

She is survived by her two sons and by her three stepsons. – Telegraph Group