The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Late Queen’ s friend the Earl of Airlie, dies at 97
The Earl of Airlie, of Cortachy, Kirriemuir, former Lord Chamberlain to the late Queen, has died aged 97.
He was the same age and a close friend of Queen Elizabeth, and ran the royal household from 1984 until 1997.
On August 31 1997, in his final year in the role, Lord Airlie was required to officiate at RAF Northolt to receive the aircraft carrying the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales, following her death in a car crash in Paris.
The photographs of Lord Airlie that day show a reassuring figure providing support to Prince Charles and the family of Diana.
David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie, remained active until recent weeks, his son, David, now the 14th Earl, said.
He attended the service of thanksgiving for the late Queen at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, in September last year.
He was one of the key mourners at the funeral of the Queen at Westminster Abbey and attended the coronation of King Charles in May.
For decades, Lord Airlie, his wife Virginia, and their six children called Cortachy Castle, near Kirriemuir, their home. Airlie estates has been in the family’s hands for at least 700 years.
Lord Airlie was born in London in 1926, the eldest son of David, 12th Earl, and Lady Alexandra Coke.
He was educated at Eton and served as an officer in the Scots Guards during the Second World War. He remained in the Army until 1950 when he began studying estate management at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester.
In 1953, he joined merchant bankers, J Henry Schroder, was appointed a director in 1961 and then became chairman in 1973.
He left the firm in 1984 to become Lord Chamberlain. Lady Ogilvy was a Lady of the Bedchamber from 1973 until the death of the Queen in September 2022.
Lord Airlie had served as Lord Lieutenant of Angus and was founding chancellor of Abertay University, Dundee, in 1994, serving until 2009.
He played an active role in the community in Angus and was a particular supporter of the Glenisla Games to which he welcomed Prince Charles as a guest in 2019 to mark the games’ 150th anniversary.
Lord and Lady Airlie married at St Margaret’s, Westminster, in a ceremony attended by the late Queen and the Queen Mother.
The couple went on to have six children: Doune, Jane, David, Bruce, Elizabeth and Patrick and, in time, 14 grandchildren and eight greatgrandchildren.
A proud and private man, Lord Airlie was resolutely loyal to the late Queen and the wider household and never discussed the role he played on behalf of the royal family and the 700 staff for whom he was responsible.
However, when the Queen died last year, he did pay warm tribute to the “truly remarkable lady (who) devoted her whole life to the welfare of her people and her country.”