Lady Farnham Biography – Wiki
Lady Farnham, the Queen has lost a loyal second aide following the death of Lady Farnham, just weeks after the passing of her devoted friend and former robe lover, the Duchess of Grafton.
Diana Maxwell, Lady Farnham, who had been the lady of the queen’s bedroom since 1987 and traveled with the queen on her way to her Diamond Jubilee service in 2012.
Age
Lady Farnham has died at the age of 90-years-old.
Husband & Children
Lady Farnham was married to Barry Maxwell, the twelfth Baron Farnham, a prominent city banker and fellow Irishman who died in 2001.
Cause of Death
Diana Maxwell, Lady Farnham, who had been the queen of the queen’s bedroom since 1987 and was traveling with the queen on her way to her Diamond Jubilee service in 2012, died four days after Christmas at age 90.
She also joined the Queen on royal tours during her 44 years of service, including the successful Republic of Ireland tour in 2011 due to her Irish connections.
It follows the death of Ann Fortune FitzRoy, the Duchess of Grafton, at age 101 last month and is another blow after the passing of her husband, Prince Philip, in April.
Lady Farnham was married to Barry Maxwell, the twelfth Baron Farnham, a prominent city banker and an Irish colleague who died in 2001.
A royal source told The Telegraph: ‘It is very sad for the Queen. Everyone loved Lady Farnham, she was always in a good mood. She was also a very glamorous and attractive woman.
“ She was always very generous to new people who joined the house.
It has not been a good year for the queen: losing her husband and then the Duchess of Grafton and now Lady Farnham.
They were dear friends who supported the queen in her official duties. Unfortunately, a sad consequence of living a long life is that you have to say goodbye to many people you care about. ‘
Lady Farnham was a close friend and supporter of the Queen for decades, most notably sitting next to the monarch during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 when Prince Philip was unable to attend.
Born Diana Marion Gunnis, she married Lord Farnham in 1959.
The couple adopted two daughters, Harriet, 57, and Sophia, 54, and had four grandchildren: Araminta, 28, Henry, 26, Elsa, 15, and Celia, 13.
Lady Farnham joined the Royal House in 1987, more than 30 years after the Duchess of Grafton, but was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in 1998 after the Queen recognized her personal service.
She was later appointed Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, an award personally bestowed by the Queen for her services to the sovereign, in 2010.
Her death follows a turbulent year for the queen in which she had to deal with the departure of her grandson, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle, to the United States and the passing of her husband.
Prince Philip was her ‘strength and guide’ during her 73-year marriage and 69-year reign.
The crowds of mourners laying flowers and tributes in the palaces became so large in April last year that they were told to disperse due to the pandemic that followed her death.
The nation was subsequently heartbroken by photographs of the grieving queen sitting alone during the funeral of her husband when she was forced to cry away from her children and her devastated grandchildren during the Covid security ceremony.
The queen proudly displayed a photo of her ‘beloved’ Prince Philip and donned a sapphire brooch that she wore on her honeymoon in 1947 and again for her diamond wedding anniversary during her Christmas Day speech last week.
Facing her first holiday season without her 73-year-old husband, Her Majesty, 95, delivered a ‘particularly personal’ speech to the nation, paying tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh and saying that his’ mischievous and inquisitive glow was so brilliant in the end. like when I first saw him. ‘
The monarch described “a familiar laugh” missing this Christmas when she paid the most eloquent public tribute to the longest-serving consort to the nation since her death in April of her at age 99.
The speech also came just weeks after the passing of a close friend, the Duchess of Grafton.
The Duchess was named the prestigious Dame of the Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in 1980 and her close relationship was underlined when she appointed the monarch godmother to her second daughter in 1954.
She was also just one of two Robe Masters during the Queen’s reign, previously a role that held responsibility for the monarch’s clothing and jewelry.
She first joined the Royal House in 1953, the year of Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation, as a Dame of the Queen’s House, before becoming Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on the New Years Honors list. 1965.
