Rosalind Maud Shand (' Cubitt; 11 August 1921 – 14 July 1994) was a British charity worker and aristocrat, daughter of
Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe. She was the wife of army officer Major
Bruce Shand and the mother of
Queen Camilla.
Childhood
Rosalind was born at 16 Grosvenor Street, London, on 11 August 1921, the eldest of the three children born to
Roland Calvert Cubitt (1899–1962) and his wife
Sonia Rosemary Cubitt (''née''
Keppel; 1900–1986). Her father was the son of
Henry Cubitt, 2nd Baron Ashcombe, and became 3rd
Baron Ashcombe after his death. Rosalind's mother Sonia was the youngest daughter of
George Keppel and his wife,
Alice Frederica Keppel (née
Edmonstone).
Rosalind had two younger siblings:
Henry Cubitt, who succeeded his father as the 4th Baron Ashcombe and Jeremy Cubitt, who died in 1958 at the age of 30.
Her family was the aristocratic and wealthy Cubitt family, which founded the Cubitt construction company. She was a goddaughter of
Dame Margaret Greville and inherited some of her fortune.
Rosalind was named by the press as the 1939 'Debutante of the Year'. She had her
debutante
A debutante, also spelled débutante, ( ; from french: débutante , "female beginner") or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and, as a new adult, is presented to society at a formal " ...
ball on 6 July 1939 at the
Holland House in
Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
, London. It was attended by more than a thousand guests including famous playwright and composer
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
and royals
King George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...
and
Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to:
Queens regnant
* Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland
* Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022 ...
. The ball was described as the last grand and great ball held at the house before it was destroyed during the Second World War.
Marriage and children
Rosalind met her future husband Major
Bruce Middleton Hope Shand (1917–2006), son of English journalist
Philip Morton Shand and his first wife
Edith Marguerite Harrington at the end of the Second World War. He later retired from the British Army after winning two
Military Crosses and being a German
prisoner of war. They married on 2 January 1946 at
St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge in London. The couple bought a
country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
,
The Laines in
Plumpton, East Sussex and also maintained another house in
South Kensington.
They had three children:
*
Camilla Rosemary Shand (born 17 July 1947), who married firstly
Andrew Parker Bowles and had two children then secondly to Charles, Prince of Wales (later
Charles III):
**
Thomas Henry Charles Parker Bowles (born 1974)
**
Laura Rose Lopes ''née'' Parker Bowles (born 1978)
:
*
Sonia Annabel Shand (born 2 February 1949) married Simon Elliot and had three children:
**
Benjamin William Elliot (born 1975)
**Alice Rosalind Irwin ''née'' Elliot (born 1977)
**Katie Camilla Elliot (born 1981)
*
Mark Roland Shand (28 June 1951 – 23 April 2014) married
Clio Goldsmith and had a child:
**Ayesha Shand (born 1995)
Career and charity work
Rosalind worked for an adoption agency before marriage. She volunteered at the
Chailey Heritage Foundation, which helps young children with disabilities, in the 1960s and 1970s located at
North Chailey
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''no ...
, East Sussex. She worked there as a volunteer for 17 years. Her daughter Camilla opened a new facility there in 2013.
Death
She died at
Lewes
Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...
, East Sussex on 14 July 1994 aged 72, having long suffered from
osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass, micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue leading to bone fragility, and consequent increase in fracture risk. It is the most common reason for a broken bone ...
.
Her mother Sonia also died from the same disease in 1986.
She was survived by her husband, her three children and five grandchildren. Her youngest granddaughter Ayesha was born a year after her death.
Following her mother's death, Camilla became a member of the
National Osteoporosis Society (a charity dedicated to improving the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of osteoporosis) in 1994 to help raise awareness of the disease, became Patron of the charity in 1997 and was appointed its President in 2001.
References
Books cited
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shand, Rosalind
1921 births
1994 deaths
Adoption workers
British debutantes
Daughters of barons
Rosalind
Cubitt family
Rosalind
Rosalind
People from Lewes
People from Mayfair
People from Plumpton, East Sussex