Angus Ogilvy

The Right Honourable
Sir Angus Ogilvy
KCVO
Born Angus James Bruce Ogilvy
(1928-09-14)14 September 1928
London, England
Died 26 December 2004(2004-12-26) (aged 76)
London, England
Burial place Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore
Spouse(s)
Children
Parent(s)

Sir Angus James Bruce Ogilvy, KCVO (14 September 1928 – 26 December 2004) was a British businessman, best known as the husband of Princess Alexandra, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.

Ogilvy is also remembered for his role in a scandal involving the breaking of sanctions against the regime in Rhodesia in the 1970s in the Lonrho affair. In later years, he was heavily involved in charity work.

Early life

The Hon. Angus Ogilvy was born in London, the second son of the 12th Earl of Airlie and Lady Alexandra Coke, the daughter of the 3rd Earl of Leicester.[1] Many of his relatives had close links with the British Royal Family.[1] His grandmother, Mabell Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie, was a close friend and Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Mary.[1] His father was a Lord-in-waiting to King George V and Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother).[1] He was a second cousin of Diana Mosley, second cousin of Lavinia Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk, and a second cousin once removed of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury. He was also third cousin, once removed of Pamela Harriman.

Education and career

Ogilvy was educated at Heatherdown School, near Ascot in Berkshire; and later at Eton College (also in Berkshire). Between 1946 and 1948, while on National service, he was commissioned as an officer in the Scots Guards. In 1947 he attended Trinity College, Oxford, graduating in 1950 with a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.

After university, Ogilvy worked at the Drayton company, later working with the tycoon Tiny Rowland in Drayton's subsidiary, London and Rhodesia Mining and Land Company (Lonrho). The Prime Minister, Edward Heath, criticised the company and described it in the House of Commons as "an unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism" on a 1973 court case over the company's management style. His career ended in 1976 after he was criticised in a Department of Trade report into the company's activities.[2]

Marriage

L-R: Sir James Ramsay (Governor of Queensland), Princess Alexandra, Sir Angus Ogilvy, and Lady Janet Ramsay at Government House, 1978

On 24 April 1963, Ogilvy married Princess Alexandra of Kent, a granddaughter of King George V and a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, at Westminster Abbey in London.[3][4] The wedding ceremony was attended by all the members of the Royal Family and was broadcast worldwide on television, watched by an estimated 200 million people.

The Queen had offered Ogilvy an earldom on his wedding, which he declined.[5] He also rejected a grace-and-favour apartment at one of the Royal Palaces. Instead, he leased Thatched House Lodge in Richmond, London from the Crown Estate for him and Princess Alexandra to live in, and where she still lives today. However, Princess Alexandra retained an apartment at St James's Palace, which is customary for the royal family.

Together, the couple had two children:

  • James Robert Bruce Ogilvy (born 29 February 1964 in Thatched House Lodge, Richmond Park, Surrey), married Julia Caroline Rawlinson on 30 July 1988 at St Mary the Virgin Church in Saffron Walden, Essex. They have two children:[6]
    • Flora Alexandra Ogilvy (born 15 December 1994 in Edinburgh, Scotland)
    • Alexander Charles Ogilvy (born 12 November 1996 in Edinburgh, Scotland)
  • Marina Victoria Alexandra Ogilvy (born 31 July 1966 in Thatched House Lodge, Richmond Park, Surrey), married on 2 February 1990 at Richmond Park, Surrey, and divorced on 15 October 1997 Paul Julian Mowatt (Hendon, 28 November 1962), a photographer. Marina's first pregnancy, which was announced in late 1989, caused a controversy as the couple were not married. This resulted in a feud with her parents who suggested she either married her companion or aborted the child.[7][8] They eventually had two children:
    • Zenouska May Mowatt (born 26 May 1990 in London)
    • Christian Alexander Mowatt (born 4 June 1993 in London)

Later years

Ogilvy was created a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on 31 December 1988[9] by Queen Elizabeth II. In the 1997 New Year Honours, he was made a Privy Counsellor.

After his business career was blighted, Ogilvy was involved with charity work.[3] He served as president of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, and as chairman of Youth Clubs UK, the biggest non-uniformed youth organisation in Britain. He was patron of Arthritis Care; vice-patron of the National Children's Homes; chairman of the advisory council of The Prince's Trust; a trustee of the Leeds Castle Foundation, as well as being a member of the governing council of Business in the Community, and of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. He was also a member of the Royal Company of Archers, the Sovereign's Bodyguard in Scotland, in which his father served as one of its four lieutenants.

He suffered from throat cancer in later years and his last public appearance with his wife was when he accompanied her to Thailand for an official tour.

Ogilvy died in Kingston upon Thames, London, on 26 December 2004. His funeral took place at St. George's Chapel, Windsor in Windsor Castle on 5 January 2005.[10] He was buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore at Windsor.[11]

Legacy

Ogilvy and his wife attended a special service at St Anne's Church, Kew, on Sunday 10 May 1964, to mark the church's 250th anniversary. Two pew cushions in the church are embroidered with their names and coats of arms.[12]

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Angus Ogilvy's arms[13]

Titles and styles

  • 14 September 1928 – 31 December 1988: The Hon. Angus Ogilvy
  • 31 December 1988 – 1997: The Hon. Sir Angus Ogilvy, KCVO
  • 1997 – 26 December 2004: The Rt Hon. Sir Angus Ogilvy, KCVO PC

Honours

Issue

NameBirthMarriageIssue
James Ogilvy29 February 196430 July 1988Julia RawlinsonFlora Ogilvy
Alexander Ogilvy
Marina Ogilvy31 July 19662 February 1990
Divorced 4 December 1997		Paul MowattZenouska Mowatt
Christian Mowatt

Ancestry

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Sir Angus Ogilvy". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  2. ↑ Andrew Goodrick-Clarke (7 July 1976). "Mr Ogilvy to resign directorships after Lonrho report criticizes him". The Times.
  3. 1 2 Saxon, Wolfgang (28 December 2004). "Angus Ogilvy, 76, Banker With Ties to British Royalty, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 March 2008. He and Princess Alexandra had a son, James Robert Bruce Ogilvy, and a daughter, Marina Victoria Alexandra. Once estranged from their parents, they had reconciled and, according to The Times of London, were with them at the time of Sir Angus's death.
  4. ↑ "Princess Alexandra of Kent". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  5. ↑ Panton, Kenneth J. (2011). Historical Dictionary of the British Monarchy. Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 38. ISBN 0-8108-5779-0.
  6. ↑ "Royal baby for leap year day". BBC. 29 February 1964. Retrieved 8 March 2008. The Ogilvy baby was one of several royal babies due within months of each other. The 9lb 6oz boy will be unique among them in having no title. Master Ogilvy is currently 13th in line to the throne but will soon be displaced to 16th
  7. ↑ "One More Scandal For British Royalty". The New York Times. 17 October 1989. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  8. ↑ "Unwed Pregnant Royal Cousin Petitions Queen". Los Angeles Times. 9 October 1989. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  9. ↑ St George's Chapel - Orders of Chivalry Archived 20 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ "Death of the Rt Hon Sir Angus Ogilvy". British Monarchy. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "Sir Angus Ogilvy is buried at Windsor". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  12. ↑ Blomfield, David (2014). St Anne's Kew: 1714-2014. RJL Smith and Associates. pp. 68, 72. ISBN 978-0-9573492-8-5.
  13. ↑ Maclagan, Michael; Louda, Jiří (1999). Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe. London: Little, Brown & Co. p. 31. ISBN 1-85605-469-1.
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