Claire, Lady Macdonald

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

is a Scottish cookery writer and former hotelier.

Biography

Claire Macdonald is one of three daughters of Captain Thomas Noel Catlow

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

DL RN and his wife Jean (née Nuttall), and lived as a child in Thurland Castle in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. In 1969 she married Godfrey Macdonald, who the following year, on the death of his

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

, became the 8th

Baron Macdonald Baron Macdonald, of Slate in the County of Antrim, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1776 for Sir Alexander Macdonald, 9th Baronet, of Sleat. The Macdonald family of Sleat descends from Uisdean Macdonald (died 1498), also ...

and High Chief of

Clan Donald Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald or Clan McDonald ( ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. Historically the chiefs of the Clan Donald held the title of Lord of the Isles until 1493 and two of those chiefs a ...

. Lord and Lady Macdonald have four children: * Hon. Alexandra Louise Macdonald, b. 19 Aug 1973, married the German-Austrian nobleman and landowner Philipp zu Guttenberg (b. 1973), brother of German politician

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Buhl-Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg (born 5 December 1971), known professionally as Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, is a Germany, German businessman, journalist, podcaster, an ...

* Hon. Isabella Claire Macdonald, b. 2 Oct 1975 * Hon. Meriel Iona Macdonald, b. 1978 * Hon. (Godfrey Evan) Hugo Thomas Macdonald, b. 24 Feb 1982

Hotelier

The Macdonald estates on the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...

had historically been very extensive but the death duties payable on the deaths of Lord Macdonald's grandfather and father necessitated their sale. Lord and Lady Macdonald for the next four decades ran a successful hotel at Kinloch Lodge, a former Macdonald hunting lodge near

Isleornsay Isleornsay (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Iarmain) is a village lying off the main Armadale to Sleat road (the A851) on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It overlooks, but is not upon, the island of Ornsay. The island itself shelters one of the best natur ...

Honours and awards

Lady Macdonald is a Patron of Scottish Food Fortnight and The Association of Scottish Farmers’ Markets. She has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) was founded in Edinburgh in 1784 as the Highland Society of Edinburgh. The society is responsible for organising the annual Royal Highland Show. History The society had its root i ...

. In 2008 she received an honorary doctorate from

Abertay University Abertay University () is a public university in the city of Dundee, Scotland. In 1872, Sir David Baxter, 1st Baronet of Kilmaron, left a bequest for the establishment of a mechanics' institute in Dundee and the Dundee Institute of Technology w ...

and in 2011, she was given the

National Farmers' Union of Scotland The National Farmers' Union of Scotland (NFU Scotland, NFUS) is an employer association organisation that represents the interests of the Scotland's farming industry. It was formed in 1913, and has approximately 10,000 members who are farmers ...

’s Ambassador Award. She was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the New Year Honours List on 31 December 2013.''The London Gazette''
31 December 2013

Writer

Cookery books

*''Sweet Things'' (Century, 1984) *''Seasonal Cooking'' (Corgi, 1986) *''The Harrods Book of Entertaining'' (Ebury Press, 1986) *''Delicious Fish'' (Grafton, 1986) *''More Seasonal Cooking'' (Bantam Press, 1987) *''Lady Macdonald’s Chocolate Book'' (Ebury, 1988) *''Celebrations'' (Bantam, 1989) *''Lady Macdonald’s Scotland: the Best of Scottish Food and Drink'' (Bullfinch Press, 1990) *''Quick and Easy Desserts and Puddings'' (BBC Books, 1993) *''Suppers'' (Doubleday, 1994) *''Lunches'' (Doubleday, 1996) *''The Claire Macdonald Cookbook'' (Bantam, 1997) *''Claire Macdonald’s Scottish cookery'' (Pitkin, 1998) *''Claire Macdonald’s Simply Seasonal: delicious recipes for year-round informal entertaining'' (Bantam, 2001) *''Claire Macdonald’s Entertaining Solo: delicious recipes for single cooks who like to entertain'' (Bantam, 2002) *''Scottish Highland Hospitality: New Recipes from the Scottish Highlands and Islands'' (Black & White, 2003) *''Fish: inspiring fish recipes for creative cooks'' (Bantam, 2006) *''The Scottish Salmon Bible'' (Birlinn, 2013) *''The Scottish Food Bible'' (Birlinn, 2014) *''The Claire Macdonald Game Cookbook'' (Birlinn, 2015)

Memoirs

* ''Lifting the lid: a life at Kinloch Lodge, Skye'' (Birlinn, 2012).

References

External links

* Kinloch Lodg
hotel website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Claire Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Scottish women chefs Scottish food writers Irish baronesses Officers of the Order of the British Empire British cookbook writers British women food writers People from the Isle of Skye