Virginia Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie

Virginia Fortune Ogilvy, Dowager Countess of Airlie, DCVO (née Ryan; born February 9, 1933) is a former Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II.^[1]

The Right Honourable The Dowager Countess of Airlie DCVO
The Dowager Countess accompanying Queen Elizabeth II to the Royal Maundy service in Wakefield, 2005
Born	Virginia Fortune Ryan (1933-02-09) February 9, 1933 (age 90) Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.
Spouse	David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie ​ ​ (m. 1952; died 2023)​
Children	6
Relatives	Otto Kahn (grandfather) Thomas Fortune Ryan (great-grandfather) Ida Mary Barry Ryan (great-grandmother)

Early life

Lady Airlie was born in Newport, Rhode Island, the daughter of John Barry Ryan, Jr. and Margaret Kahn. Her mother was the daughter of German-American financier Otto Kahn and her father was the grandson of Thomas Fortune Ryan.

Royal household

Lady Airlie was a Lady of the Bedchamber from 1973 until Queen Elizabeth II's death in September 2022. She was the first American to have served as a lady-in-waiting to the Queen.^[2] She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (DCVO) in 1995.

Lady Airlie's 70th birthday was celebrated with a dinner at the private member's nightclub Annabel's in Mayfair which the Queen attended. It is thought to be the only occasion on which the Queen visited a nightclub after she was married.^[3]

As Lady of the Bedchamber she was a senior lady-in-waiting and attended to the Queen on major occasions and overseas tours. In May 2007, she accompanied the Queen on her trip to the United States to commemorate the 400th anniversary of England's first American settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. On May 7, 2007, she attended a state dinner at the White House, hosted by President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

On October 23, 1952, she married David Ogilvy, Lord Ogilvy, who in 1968 became the Earl of Airlie. With her husband, Lady Airlie has six children:

• Lady Doune Mabell Ogilvy (b. August 13, 1953); served as a bridesmaid at the wedding of her uncle Angus Ogilvy and Princess Alexandra of Kent. Lady Doune married Sir Hereward Charles Wake, 15th Bt. on April 16, 1977; they had four children, and divorced in July 1995.
• Lady Jane Fortune Margaret Ogilvy (b. June 24, 1955); married François Nairac on August 30, 1980. The couple have two daughters.
• David John Ogilvy, 14th Earl of Airlie (b. March 9, 1958); served as a page boy at the wedding of his uncle Angus Ogilvy and Princess Alexandra. Lord Ogilvy married, firstly, in 1981, Hon. Geraldine Harmsworth, daughter of Vere Harmsworth, 3rd Viscount Rothermere. They had a daughter before divorcing in 1990. Lord Ogilvy married, secondly, in 1991, Tarka Kings, with whom he has three children.
• Hon. Bruce Patrick Mark Ogilvy (b. April 7, 1959)
• Lady Elizabeth Clementine Ogilvy (b. June 4, 1965); married Jonathan Baring, with whom she has one issue.
• Hon. Patrick Alexander Ogilvy (b. March 24, 1971);

The Earl of Airlie died on June 26, 2023, aged 97.^[2]

References

1. "Her Majesty's A-team", telegraph.co.uk; accessed July 20, 2015.
2. "Earl of Airlie, dashing courtier who led Schroders through the Big Bang and reviewed the royal finances – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
3. Whitworth, Damien (October 21, 2014). "The club that still smells of sex and exclusivity". The Times. No. 71333. p. 73. Retrieved October 8, 2022.

Further reading

• Williams, Iain Cameron. The KAHNS of Fifth Avenue: the Crazy Rhythm of Otto Hermann Kahn and the Kahn Family, 2022, iwp publishing, ISBN 978-1916146587 - biography of Virginia Ogilvy's grandfather Otto Hermann Kahn and her uncle Roger Wolfe Kahn.