QUEEN’S COUSIN IN SEX ASSAULT AT ROYAL CASTLE
He faces jail after attack on guest at Queen Mum’s home
THE Queen’s cousin faces prison for a violent sex attack on a guest at his ancestral home.
simon Bowes-Lyon barged his way into the woman’s bedroom while she was sleeping during an event he was hosting at Glamis castle – the childhood home of the Queen Mother.
He repeatedly grabbed his victim and told her he wanted to have an affair with her during the drink-fuelled assault, which lasted more than 20 minutes.
He is said to have tried to pull up her nightdress, and pushed her up against a wall and groped her. When she rejected his advances, he is said to have called her a ‘rude, mean, bad and horrible person’ and told her she could not tell him what to do in his own home.
she eventually managed to get him out of the room and sent messages asking other guests for help, only for him to return and try to get into the room again.
Bowes-Lyon, 34, who is the Queen’s cousin twice removed, admitted a charge of sexually assaulting the woman at Dundee crown court yesterday. He faces up
to five years in jail for the offence. The aristocrat was granted bail yesterday and placed on the sex offenders register as his sentence was deferred for reports.
Sheriff Alistair Carmichael also ordered that Glamis Castle should be assessed for its suitability for a tagging order.
The charge stated that he repeatedly pushed his victim on to a bed, tried to pull up her nightdress, pushed her against a wall, and tried to kiss her and touch her during the event at the 16,500-acre estate last year.
The young woman managed to fend off his advances until he eventually left her room, located in his private wing of the castle in eastern Scotland.
Bowes-Lyon – who as a 15-yearold walked behind Prince William in the Queen Mother’s funeral cortege – issued an apology to his victim as he left court, adding that he
‘No excuse for my behaviour’
is ‘greatly ashamed’ of his conduct and that ‘alcohol is no excuse’.
The court was told the incident happened as Glamis Castle hosted several people for a luxury weekend. On the first night, the victim noticed nobody was talking to Bowes-Lyon, who is known as ‘Sam’, during dinner and she engaged him in conversation.
The following evening there was a black-tie dinner and, after the woman went to bed, Bowes-Lyon carried on drinking before arriving uninvited at her room at 1.20am.
Fiscal depute Lynne Mannion said: ‘She was asleep and was woken by knocking at the door.’
She said Bowes-Lyon, a greatgreat nephew of the Queen Mother, told the woman: ‘It’s Sam. It’s important. Please let me in.
‘She thought something was wrong so she got up. It was pitch black. The second she opened the door he pushed his way in and pushed her on to the bed.
‘He was very drunk and smelled of cigarettes. He told her he wanted to have an affair. He tried to pull her nightdress up.
‘She went into the en suite to get away but the accused followed her, stopped her closing the door, and lit a cigarette. She squeezed past and went back to the bedroom.’
Miss Mannion said Bowes-Lyon then pushed his victim up against a wall and groped her and grabbed her bottom.
She added: ‘She raised her voice in the hope that another guest would hear her. She panicked because she did not know the layout of the castle. She had no signal. He refused to leave. He got into bed and began pulling at her. She had to keep pushing him off.’
Bowes-Lyon called her ‘ a rude, mean, bad and horrible person’ and told her she could not tell him what to do in his own home.
After more than 20 minutes she eventually managed to get him out of her room and sent a series of messages asking other guests for help. Bowes-Lyon returned and tried to get into the room again, but the woman managed to get hold of another guest in another part of the castle and he came to help.
The man later reported that she was ‘distressed’ when he spoke to her and that Bowes-Lyon had fallen asleep when he went to confront him about the incident. The woman fled the castle in the morning and flew home to immediately report the matter to police. Bowes-Lyon emailed an apology to the woman and he offered another apology for his behaviour in court yesterday.
His barrister, John Scott QC, said: ‘He is truly sorry for what he accepts was shameful conduct.’
He said Bowes-Lyon had since been to counselling to try and understand his behaviour.
Speaking outside court yesterday, Bowes- Lyon said: ‘ I am greatly ashamed of my actions which have caused such distress to a guest in my home.
‘Clearly I had drunk to excess on the night of the incident. As someone who is only too well aware of the damage that alcohol can cause, I should have known better. I recognise, in any event, that alcohol is no excuse for my behaviour. I did not think I was capable of behaving the way I did but have had to face up to it and take responsibility.’
Bowes-Lyon, known for his love of fast cars and holidays with reality TV stars, was named one of the UK’s most eligible bachelors by Tatler in 2019. The 19th and 6th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, he was styled Lord Glamis until his father’s death in 2016.
Among his famous friends are Made In Chelsea TV stars Hugo Taylor and Oliver Proudlock, Bryan Ferry’s son Otis and model and socialite Poppy Delevingne.