Queen’s cousin jailed for sex attack in castle
A COUSIN of the Queen who admitted a violent sex attack at his ancestral castle was jailed yesterday after experts said he could strike again.
Simon Bowes-Lyon, 34, assaulted the woman in her bedroom while she was a guest at an event he hosted.
Bowes-Lyon, the Earl of Strathmore and great-great nephew of the Queen Mother, attacked the 26-year-old last February inside Glamis Castle, on the family’s 16,500-acre estate in Angus.
After dinner, the multi-millionaire went to the woman’s room and persuaded her to open the door before shoving his way in.
Yesterday at Dundee Sheriff Court Sheriff Alastair Carmichael told him: “She had no sexual interest in you and had done nothing that could be interpreted to the contrary.
“You went to her bedroom… pushed your way into the room, pushed her on to the bed and…tried to push her nightdress up.”
He added: “You told her that you were going to **** her.You continued to pull at her and tried to kiss her.
Throughout all this she made it clear she wanted you to stop.”
The sheriff continued: “She was afraid to the extent that she locked the door and wedged a chair under the handle. She was left shaking. Even now, one year on, she still has nightmares. It was made worse that you were her host.”
He went on: “The force, aggression and persistence you used are concerning. The sentence must reflect the gravity of this crime.”
His victim, who cannot be named, has had cognitive behavioural therapy and continues to have nightmares.
Bowes-Lyon was sentenced to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to the 20-minute sexual assault at an earlier hearing.
The court heard experts assessed the aristocrat posed a medium risk of committing similar offences.
His defence barrister John Scott QC said: “He has recognised he did something very bad and he is sorry for it. He is only at medium risk of reconviction.”
Bowes-Lyon was also placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
Glamis Castle was the childhood home of the Queen Mother.