Elizabeth Hester Douglas-Home, Baroness Home of the Hirsel (née Alington; 6 November 1909 – 3 September 1990) was the wife of British politician and prime minister Alec Douglas-Home.
The Lady Home of the Hirsel | |
|---|---|
_2.jpg) Douglas-Home in 1963 | |
| Born | Elizabeth Hester Alington 6 November 1909 |
| Died | 3 September 1990 (aged 80) |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Spouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom (1963–64) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, including David, 15th Earl of Home |
| Father | Cyril Alington |
Biography
editShe was born Elizabeth Hester Alington,[1] the second daughter of the Very Rev Cyril Alington[2]—headmaster of Shrewsbury School and Eton College successively, as well as chaplain to King George V[2]—and his wife, Hester Margaret Lyttelton, daughter of George Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton.[2] Elizabeth was the first woman to become a fellow (governor) of Eton.[citation needed]
She married Alec Douglas-Home on 3 October 1936.[1] Thanks to her husband acquiring and renouncing various titles, she had, according to The Guinness Book of Records, more names successively in her lifetime than any other once-married, British-only woman.[3][page needed]
The couple had four children:
- Lady (Lavinia) Caroline Douglas-Home DL (b. 11 Oct 1937), who served as a Lady-in-Waiting to various members of the Royal Family
- Lady Meriel Kathleen Douglas-Home (b. 27 Nov 1939), m. Adrian Darby, Bursar of Keble College, Oxford
- Lady Diana Lucy Douglas-Home (18 Dec 1940 - 22 August 2024), m. James Wolfe Murray
- David Alexander Cospatrick Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of Home (20 Nov 1943–22 Aug 2022).
She died on 3 September 1990 at the age of 80.[4] Her husband outlived her by just over five years.[5] They had been married for nearly 54 years.
References
editBibliography
edit- Blair, Cherie; Cate Haste (2005). The Goldfish Bowl: Married to the Prime Minister 1955–1997. Vintage. ISBN 978-0-09-946202-6.
- Card, Tim (2004). "Alington, Cyril Argentine". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30379. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Guinness Book of Records 1985. Guinness World Records Limited (published 19 October 1984). 1985. ISBN 978-0-85112-419-3.
- Hurd, Douglas (2004). "Home, Alexander Frederick [Alec] Douglas-, fourteenth earl of Home and Baron Home of the Hirsel". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press.
External links
edit
Media related to Elizabeth Douglas-Home at Wikimedia Commons- Portraits of Elizabeth Douglas-Home at the National Portrait Gallery, London
