by The Laird o’ Thistle
November 28, 2016

The Queen’s cousin, who was almost a second sister to her, died this last weekend at age 91. Margaret Rhodes was, simply, the last of the HM’s truly lifelong companions. Descended from two historic Scottish families (Elphinstone and Bowes-Lyon), she was a niece of the late Queen Mother, and a goddaughter of the Queen’s father, King George VI. She was ten months older than HM. As children, the cousins galloped and played horses together, and enjoyed other mad games with family and friends. When WWII broke out in 1939, Cousin Margaret stayed on with the two Princesses – Elizabeth and Margaret Rose – safely tucked away at Balmoral until nearly Christmas, when it was at last deemed safe for the girls to rejoin their families. As the war proceeded and the girls became older, Margaret Elphinstone came down from Scotland to live at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, and to do her bit… eventually becoming a secretary for MI6. Her memories included going to shelter with the King, Queen, and Princesses during air raids. She was a principal member of the party on the famous “night out” for Elizabeth and Margaret, with the crowds on VE Day. She was a bridesmaid at Princess Elizabeth’s marriage to Prince Philip in 1947.

In later years she went on to marry, raise a family, and have many adventures. But she always remained close to her aunt and cousins… entertaining them at her home in Devon, and joining them regularly at Balmoral. In 1981 she and her terminally ill husband moved to a house on the Windsor Castle estate, where he would be closer to medical treatment. After his death, she became a member of the Queen Mother’s household, companioning and serving her aunt until her death. She sat with the Queen at the Queen Mother’s bedside during the latter’s final hours. In the years since the two cousins continued to spend time together, both on holiday together at Balmoral and in regular Sunday visits, after church in the little chapel next to Royal Lodge, when the Queen would stop in for a cuppa and a chat. It is reported that HM visited her cousin during her final illness.

Second, only to Prince Philip, Mrs. Rhodes has been the “nearest living relation” of Queen Elizabeth II over these last fifteen years since the deaths of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. Although the Queen has a good relationship with her Windsor cousins (the Kents and the Duke of Gloucester) they are not nearly as close, nor are they quite her peers in age. The impact of this death on HM will doubtless be significant, even as the monarch’s legendary self-discipline will, again, without doubt, keep her determinedly “carrying on” in her duties as long as she is able. Thankfully, she does still have Prince Philip, her “rock and stay”, at her side.

In her 2011 memoir, The Final Curtsey, Margaret Rhodes made it clear that she… like the Queen… was a person of faith. She looked forward, she said, to the next “great adventure” that lies beyond. With that in mind, there seems no better way to end this particular column than with words from the final verse of Henry Baker’s beloved old paraphrase of Psalm 23:

And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never;
Good shepherd, may I sing thy praise
Within thy house forever.

Yours aye,
Ken Cuthbertson