Patricia Smith, Viscountess Hambleden

Patricia Smith, Viscountess Hambleden GCVO (12 November 1904 – 19 March 1994) was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) from 1937 to 1994.

Early life

She was the eldest child of Reginald Herbert, 15th Earl of Pembroke and his wife, Beatrice.[1] She grew up at Wilton House, Wiltshire. Her father descended from Countess Catherine Vorontsov.[2]

In 1919, she was a bridesmaid at the wedding of the Hon. Olive Cecilia Paget, daughter of the 1st Baron Queensborough. She was also debutante of the year in 1922.[3]

Marriage and children

On 26 September 1928, she married William Henry Smith, 3rd Viscount Hambleden (a descendant of the W H Smith family) at Salisbury Cathedral.[4] They had five children:

  • The Hon. William Herbert Smith (b. 1930)
  • The Hon. Laura Caroline Beatrice Smith (b. 1931)
  • The Hon. Katharine Patricia Smith (b. 1933) (married to Ivan Moffat from 1961 to 1972)[5][6]
  • The Hon. Richard Edward Smith (b. 1937)
  • The Hon. Philip Reginald Smith (b. 1945)

Later life

As a senior member of the royal household, she was a leading guest at the 1947 wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. [7] She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (DCVO) in the 1953 Coronation Honours[8]

She was at one time chairman of the NSPCC, and carried out voluntary work for King's College Hospital. In 1990, to celebrate the Queen Mother's 90th birthday (by that time she had served her for 53 years), she was made a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.[9]

Lady Hambleden's husband died in 1948 and she remained in The Queen Mother's Household until her own death in 1994 at her home in Ewelme, Oxfordshire.

Styles and Honours
  • The Hon. Patricia Herbert (1904–1913)
  • Lady Patricia Herbert (1913–1928)
  • The Rt. Hon. The Viscountess Hambleden (1928–1948)
  • The Rt. Hon. The Dowager Viscountess Hambleden (1948–1953)
  • The Rt. Hon. The Dowager Viscountess Hambleden DCVO (1953–1990)
  • The Rt. Hon. The Dowager Viscountess Hambleden GCVO (1990–1994)
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References
  1. Lundy, Darryl. Lady Patricia Herbert profile, ThePeerage.com, accessed 23 May 2012.
  2. Woronzow, HumphrysFamilyTree, accessed 4 April 2012. Catherine's father, Count Semyon Vorontsov, the Russian ambassador to Britain, brought the family to London in 1785.
  3. Lady Hambleden obituary, Independent.co.uk; accessed 8 April 2016.
  4. Wedding of Patricia Smith and 3rd Viscount Hambleden, The Glasgow Herald, 27 September 1928
  5. Ivan Moffat's obituary, The Telegraph, 3 August 2002, accessed 28 March 2012.
  6. Lundy, Darryl. "Hon. Katharine Patricia Smith", ThePeerage.com; accessed 8 April 2012.
  7. Royal Collection: Seating plan for the Ball Supper Room, royalcollection.org.uk; accessed 8 April 2016.
  8. "No. 39863". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1953. pp. 2939–2993.
  9. "No. 52173". The London Gazette. 15 June 1990. pp. 4–5.
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