Dame Frances Olivia Campbell-Preston (; 2 September 1918 – 22 November 2022) was a British

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the officia ...

and author who served as

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

from 1965 to 2002."Dame Frances Campbell-Preston obituary"
''The Times'', 24 November 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022. Harry Mount, "The Queen Mother's lady-in-waiting turns 100"
''The Oldie'', 1 September 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2022."Dame Frances Campbell-Preston, stalwart and long-serving lady-in-waiting to the Queen Mother – obituary"
''The Daily Telegraph'', 24 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.

Family and education

Frances Olivia Grenfell was the daughter of Arthur Morton Grenfell (1873–1958), a grandson of the businessman Pascoe St Leger Grenfell, and his second wife, Hilda Margaret Lyttleton (1886–1972) (daughter of The Hon. Sir Neville Lyttelton), and her uncles included the politician Cecil Alfred Grenfell and the soldier Francis Octavius Grenfell. She was the sister-in-law of the actress and comedian

Joyce Grenfell Joyce Irene Grenfell (''née'' Phipps; 10 February 1910 – 30 November 1979) was an English diseuse, singer, actress and writer. She was known for the songs and monologues she wrote and performed, at first in revues and later in her solo show ...

and aunt of the politician William Waldegrave, and her brother-in-law was Lord Ballantrae,

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...

. She was educated firstly at a Parents' National Educational Union school, whose teaching was based on the ideas of

Charlotte Mason Charlotte Maria Shaw Mason (1 January 1842 – 16 January 1923) was a British educator and reformer in England at the turn of the twentieth century. She proposed to base the education of children upon a wide and liberal curriculum. She worked ...

. She then attended

St Paul's Girls' School St Paul's Girls' School is a private day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in west London, England. The school is included in The Schools Index as one of the world's 150 best private schools and among top ...

in London. On 2 December 1938, she married Lt.-Col. (George) Patrick Campbell-Preston (1911–1960), the son of Col. Robert William Pigott Clarke Campbell-Preston (1865–1929) and his wife, Mary Augusta Margaret Nicol Thorne (1884–1930), and nephew of Gen. Sir Augustus Francis Andrew Nicol Thorne. Patrick, an officer in the

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

at the time of their marriage, was an

equerry An equerry (; from French language, French 'stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attend ...

Lord Tweedsmuir John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, British Army officer, and Unionist Party (Scotland), Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the List of governo ...

during the 1930s and was later imprisoned at

Colditz Castle Colditz Castle (or ''Schloss Colditz'' in German) is a Renaissance architecture, Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the States of Germany, state of Saxony in Germany. The castle is between the towns o ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He died in a car crash in 1960, after he and Frances had had four children.

Later life

After coming out as a

debutante A debutante, also spelled débutante ( ; from , ), or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and is presented to society at a formal "debut" ( , ; ) or possibly debutante ball. Origin ...

in 1937, Campbell-Preston sailed to Canada the following year to become an informal lady-in-waiting to the viceregal consort, Lady Tweedsmuir. During the Second World War, she served with the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the World War I, First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in ...

. She was a member of Argyll County Council from 1960 to 1964 before being asked in 1965 by the Queen Mother's private secretary, Sir Martin Gilliat, who had been imprisoned with her husband at Colditz, to become a

to the Queen Mother. She continued in that role, attending events nationally and abroad, until the Queen Mother's death in 2002. Campbell-Preston was described as a stalwart of the staff who was not hesitant to ask the Queen Mother difficult questions when other members were reluctant. Campbell-Preston turned 100 on 2 September 2018, and died on 22 November 2022 at age 104.

Honours

Campbell-Preston was appointed

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the ...

(CVO) in the 1977 New Year Honours and promoted to

Dame Commander ''Dame'' is a traditionally British honorific title given to women who have been admitted to certain orders of chivalry. It is the female equivalent of ''Sir'', the title used by knights. Baronetesses in their own right also use the title ''Da ...

(DCVO) on the occasion of the Queen Mother's 90th birthday in the 1990 Queen Mother's Birthday Honours.

Publications

Campbell-Preston was the author of two books:"Frances Campbell-Preston" author page
dovecotepress.com. Retrieved 25 November 2022. * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell-Preston, Frances 1918 births 2022 deaths British women centenarians British ladies-in-waiting Dames Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

Frances Frances is an English given name or last name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'the French.' The male version of the name in English is Francis (given name), Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "F ...

People educated at St Paul's Girls' School Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Women's Royal Naval Service officers People from Hastings