Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
Sad news last weekend; Virginia Ogilvy, the Dowager Countess of Airlie has passed away at the age of 91! The American Heiress was married to the 13th Earl of Airlie for over 70 years and served as a Lady-in-Waiting to the late Queen for five decades.
The daughter of John Barry Ryan Jr. and Margaret Kahn, Virginia Fortune Ryan was born in Newport, Rhode Island and was a granddaughter of German-American financier Otto Kahn as well as a great-grandson of Thomas Fortune Ryan. In 1952, she married David, Lord Ogilvy, son of the 12th Earl of Airlie and Lady Alexandra Coke, at St Margaret’s in Westminster.
The Earl and Countess of Airlie had six children, including the 14th Earl of Airlie, remaining married for over seventy years until his death in 2023. The Earl and Countess resided at Cortachy Castle on the 69,000 acre Airlie Estate until 2009. Through her brother-in-law, Sir Angus Ogilvy, the Countess was the sister-in-law of Princess Alexandra of Kent.
Lord Airlie was the Lord Chamberlain of the Household from 1984 to 1997 while Lady Airlie was the Lady of the Bedchamber to the late Queen from 1973 until 2022. The Countess of Airlie joined the Queen on various visits to the United States over the decades and also received various American Presidents.
A statement on behalf of King Charles said:
His Majesty was deeply saddened to hear the news, having known Lady Airlie for so much of his life and having so greatly appreciated her immense devotion and dedicated service to Her late Majesty over so many years.’
Featuring pearls and diamonds set in a victorian frame, the Airlie Tiara was first pictured on Mabell, Countess of Airlie, the grandmother of the present Earl and a lifelong friend and Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Mary, the grandmother of the present Queen.
The Countess of Airlie notably wore the Tiara in a portrait, with an added base, which can be worn as a bracelet or as a tiara in its own right, and also wore the piece at a Gala Performance for the French President in 1939, right before the outbreak of the Second World War.
While the Airlie Tiara wasn’t pictured on the following Countess, she might have worn it for her son’s Wedding Ball at Windsor Castle in 1963, the piece was frequently seen when another Countess, Virginia, became the Queen’s Lady-in-Waiting in 1973, and can be seen in the background of many Official Photos and Galas.
In her capacity as the Queen’s Lady of the Bedchamber, the Countess of Airlie has also attended countless State Openings of Parliament, from 1974 to 2012, always wearing the Airlie Tiara.
More frequently, the Countess of Airlie wears the Airlie Tiara for State Banquets and Gala Receptions at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, where she is hard to find, but can be spotted. It appears that none of her daughters or daughters-in-law have been pictured wearing the Airlie Tiara, but we wish the Countess many more years of health, so that she may wear the piece for years to come.
Duchess of Devonshire’s Tiaras