David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie

Colonel David Lyulph Gore Wolseley Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, KT, GCVO, MC (18 July 1893 – 28 December 1968) was a Scottish peer, soldier, and courtier. He was the father in-law of Princess Alexandra of Kent, Lady Ogilvy.

Colonel The Right Honourable
The Earl of Airlie
KT GCVO MC
Lord Airlie in 1912
Personal details
Born
David Lyulph Gore Wolseley Ogilvy, Lord Ogilvy

(1893-07-18)18 July 1893
Cahir, County Tipperary, Ireland
Died28 December 1968(1968-12-28) (aged 75)
Airlie Castle, Angus, Scotland
Spouse
Lady Alexandra Coke
​
(m. 1917)​
Children
Parent(s)David Ogilvy, 11th Earl of Airlie
Lady Mabell Gore
OccupationPeer, soldier, courtier

Early life

Airlie was born on 18 July 1893 in Cahir, County Tipperary, Ireland. He was the eldest son of David Ogilvy, 11th Earl of Airlie, and his wife, the former Lady Mabell Gore. He inherited his father's titles in 1900 at the age of six when his father died in the Boer War, and was one of the trainbearers to Mary of Teck at her coronation in 1911.[1]

His paternal grandfather, the 10th Earl of Airlie, died in Denver, Colorado in 1881.[2]

Lord Airlie was educated at Eton and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[1]

Career

He became a Scottish representative peer in 1922, was appointed a lord-in-waiting in Stanley Baldwin's government in April 1926, and was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on 10 May 1929.

In June 1936, he became Lord Lieutenant of Angus. He was a guest at the 1947 wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh.[3] He was elevated to Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in 1938, made a Knight of the Order of the Thistle in 1942 and was appointed Chancellor of the Order of the Thistle in 1956.

Lord Airlie owned many racehorses,[4] most notably the steeplechaser, Master Robert, "an eleven-year-old Irish-bred horse" which won the 1924 Grand National in the Earl's colours.[5][6]

Military career

Lord Airlie was commissioned into the 10th Hussars from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1912. He reached the rank of captain in the First World War, in which he won the Military Cross.

He retired from the Regular Army in 1921, but joined the 5th Battalion (4th/5th Battalion from 1922), Black Watch (Territorial Army) as a major. He was lieutenant-colonel commanding from 1924–29, being promoted colonel in 1928. In 1940 he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel in the Scots Guards, reverting at his own request to the rank of major until 1942. He resigned his commission in 1948. He was commandant of the Army Cadet Forces, Scotland in 1943. He was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) by the University of St Andrews in 1958.

Personal life
Portrait of the Countess of Airlie, by Philip de László, 1935

On 17 July 1917, Lord Airlie married Lady Alexandra Coke (d. 1984), second daughter of Thomas Coke, 3rd Earl of Leicester, and they had six children.

  • Lady Victoria Jean Marjorie Mabell Ogilvy (1918–2004), who married Alexander Lloyd, 2nd Baron Lloyd, in 1942. They had three children.
  • Lady Margaret Helen Isla Marion Ogilvy (1920–2014), who married Iain Tennant in 1946. They had three children.
  • Lady Griselda Davinia Roberta Ogilvy (1924–1977), who married Maj. Peter Balfour in 1948. Before their divorce in 1968, they had three children.
  • David George Coke Patrick Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie (1926–2023), who married Virginia Fortune Ryan in 1952.[7] They had six children.
  • The Hon. Sir Angus James Bruce Ogilvy (1928–2004), who married Princess Alexandra of Kent in 1963.[8] They had two children.[9]
  • The Hon. James Donald Diarmid Ogilvy (1934–2024), who married Magdalen Jane Ruth Ducas in 1959.[10] Before their divorce in 1980, they had four children. He remarried Lady Caroline Child-Villiers (daughter of the 9th Earl of Jersey) in 1980.

Lord Airlie died on 28 December 1968, at his home, Airlie Castle, Angus, Scotland.[1]

References
  1. Times, Special to The New York (29 December 1968). "The Earl of Airlie Dies at 75; Scot Served Royal Household". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  2. "LORD AIRLIE'S UNTIMELY DEATH". The New York Times. 17 October 1881. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  3. Royal Collection: Seating plan for the Ball Supper Room, royalcollection.org.uk; retrieved 7 April 2016.
  4. "TWO TURF INVADERS HERE FROM BRITAIN; Lord Airlie's Jumpers Wharekoa and Morello Reach Laurel Park for 'Chase Season". The New York Times. 26 March 1925. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  5. "Commonwealth: Grand National". Time. 7 April 1924.
  6. "MASTER ROBERT WINS THE GRAND NATIONAL; 250,000 See Earl of Airlie Entry, at 25 to 1, Take 5,000 'Chase at Liverpool". The New York Times. 29 March 1924. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  7. "U.S. HEIRESS WED TO PEER IN LONDON; Queen Mother Sees Virginia Ryan Married to Lord Ogilvy -- Crowds Throng Streets". The New York Times. 24 October 1952. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  8. "Princess Alexandra to Be Married". The New York Times. 30 November 1962. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  9. "Leap Year Son is Born To Princess Alexandra". The New York Times. 1 March 1964. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  10. "June Ducas Betrothed To Earl of Airlie's Son". The New York Times. 15 April 1959. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
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