Nationality British Role Baroness Soames | Name Mary Baroness | |
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Full Name Mary Spencer-Churchill Parents Winston Churchill, Clementine Churchill Siblings Randolph Churchill, Sarah Churchill, Diana Churchill, Marigold Churchill Children Nicholas Soames, Emma Soames, Rupert Soames, Charlotte Clementine Soames, Jeremy Bernard Soames Books A Daughter\'s Tale: The Memoir of Winston Churchill\'s Youngest Child Similar People | ||
Lady mary soames winston churchill s daughter dies must see
Mary Soames, Baroness Soames, LG, DBE, FRSL (née Spencer-Churchill; 15 September 1922 – 31 May 2014) was the youngest of the five children of Winston Churchill and his wife, Clementine. She was the wife of Christopher Soames.
Contents
- Lady mary soames winston churchill s daughter dies must see
- West House The Home of Lady Soames Sothebys
- Biography
- Family
- Titles from birth
- References
West House: The Home of Lady Soames | Sotheby's
Biography
Mary Spencer-Churchill was raised at Chartwell and educated at the Manor House at Limpsfield. She worked for the Red Cross and the Women's Voluntary Service from 1939 to 1941, and joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1941 with whom she served in London, Belgium and Germany in mixed anti-aircraft batteries, rising to the rank of Junior Commander (equivalent to Captain). She also accompanied her father as aide-de-camp on several of his overseas journeys, including his post-VE trip to Potsdam, where he met with Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin.
She served many public organisations, such as the International Churchill Society, as a Patron; Church Army and Churchill Houses; and chaired the Royal National Theatre Board of Trustees between 1989 and 1995. She was Patron of the National Benevolent Fund for the Aged.
A successful author, Lady Soames wrote an acclaimed biography of her mother, Clementine Churchill, in 1979. She offered insights into the Churchill family to various biographers, prominently including Sir Martin Gilbert, who became the authorised biographer of Sir Winston Churchill after the death of Churchill's son, Randolph, in 1968. Additionally, she published a book of letters between Sir Winston and Lady Churchill, editing the letters as well as providing bridging material that placed the letters in personal, family, and historical context.
One of her more notable public appearances came on 29 April 2002 when she dined with the Queen at Buckingham Palace as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, alongside Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the four surviving former prime ministers at the time, as well as several relatives of other deceased prime ministers.
Lady Soames was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her public service, particularly in Rhodesia. She was appointed a Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter on 23 April 2005, and was invested on 13 June at Windsor Castle.
On 31 May 2014, Lady Soames died at her home in London at the age of 91 following a short illness. Her ashes are buried next to those of her husband within the Churchill plot at St Martin's Church, Bladon, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire.
Six months after her death, on 17 December 2014, Sotheby's London auctioned 255 items out of her collection on behalf of her heirs, including paintings by and memorabilia attached to her father, Winston S. Churchill. The sale far exceeded pre-auction estimates.
Family
Mary Soames married the Conservative politician Christopher Soames (later created Baron Soames) in 1947 and they had five children:
Titles from birth
A list of the titles Lady Soames held in chronological order from birth: