Mary Soames

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Mary Soames (1965)

Mary Soames, Lady Soames , LG , DBE (born September 15, 1922 in Chartwell , † May 31, 2014 in London ) was the widow of Christopher Soames, Baron Soames , and a daughter of Sir Winston Churchill .

Life

Lady Soames in the Robe of a Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter (2006)

She was born Mary Spencer- Churchill in London, the youngest of five children of Sir Winston Churchill and Clementine Churchill .

During the Second World War , she first worked for the British Red Cross , then later in the Auxiliary Territorial Service , in which the female soldiers of the British Army were brought together. There they reached the rank of captain and was equipped with anti-aircraft guns - batteries in the United Kingdom , Belgium and Germany used. She later served her father as an adjutant on various trips abroad, including at the Potsdam Conference .

In 1947 she married Christopher Soames. Her husband was a well-known Conservative Party politician . She lived with him, among other places, in Paris , where her husband had been transferred as British Ambassador , in Brussels , where he was Vice-President of the European Commission , and in Rhodesia , where her husband was the last Governor General . The marriage had five children, including Nicholas Soames , who was also a prominent MP for the Conservative Party. Since her husband was raised as a life peer to Baron Soames in 1978 , she has carried the courtesy title of Lady Soames as his wife .

Lady Soames has held numerous honorary positions and was a successful writer. Among other things, she wrote a biography of her mother, which has received a lot of recognition. She edited her parents' correspondence and advised her father's official biographer, Sir Martin Gilbert .

After she was ennobled herself in 1980 as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire , she was accepted into the highest British knightly order, the Order of the Garter , on April 23, 2005 . The investiture took place on June 13, 2005 on Garter Day in Windsor Castle .

Name and title

  • Mary Churchill (September 15, 1922-1945)
  • Mary Churchill, MBE (1945 to February 11, 1947)
  • Mary Soames, MBE (February 11, 1947 to May 17, 1965)
  • The Honorable Mrs. Soames, MBE (May 17, 1965 to April 19, 1978)
  • The Lady Soames, MBE (April 19, 1978 to June 14, 1980)
  • The Lady Soames, DBE (June 14, 1980 to April 23, 2005)
  • The Lady Soames, LG DBE (April 23, 2005 until her death)

Works (selection)

  • Clementine Churchill: the biography of a marriage. Cassell, London 1978, ISBN 0304303216 .
  • Winston Churchill: His Life As a Painter. HarperCollins, London 1990, ISBN 0002178680 .
  • The Profligate Duke: George Spencer-Churchill, fifth Duke of Marlborough, and his Duchess. Collins, London 1987, ISBN 0002163764 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David Reynolds: Lady Soames obituary. theguardian.com, June 1, 2014, accessed June 2, 2014

Web links

Commons : Mary Soames, Lady Soames  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Soames, Mary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Spencer-Churchill, Mary (maiden name); Soames, Mary, Lady Soames
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British author, daughter of Sir Winston Churchill
DATE OF BIRTH September 15, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Chartwell
DATE OF DEATH May 31, 2014
Place of death London