Bizarre conspiracy theory The Queen Mother was the 'daughter of a French cook' explained
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was plagued by rumours
The Queen Mother is best known for raising a future monarch and steering the nation through the dark days of World War II.
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who unexpectedly became queen alongside her husband Prince Albert (later known as King George VI) following Edward VIII’s 1936 abdication, was famously born from Scottish aristocracy, with her formative years spent at Glamis Castle in Scotland, the ancestral seat of the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
Despite this, through the years, the late queen faced swirling speculation about her legitimacy. With some theories even claiming she was not truly an aristocrat. Instead, the daughter of a cook.
These claims even reared their head after her death on March 30, in 2002…
The Queen Mother’s story before royal family life
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who died aged 101, twenty-four years ago, tied the knot with the then-Duke of York, Prince Albert, in 1923.
Elizabeth wed the “spare” rather than the heir – or so she thought – meaning her life wed to the royal initially wasn’t so far removed from her courtly life as Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.
Apparently, at the time, Elizabeth wasn’t seen as the perfect match for Albert (known as Bertie). Likely because British princes were typically wed to European princesses at the time.
Elizabeth had led a largely home-educated lifestyle at Glamis Castle and during WWI, she worked at a convalescent hospital.
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Royal author Tom Quinn explained in his book, Gilded Youth, that Prince Albert and Elizabeth’s union was only approved due to the prince’s status as “spare” – meaning he was allowed to marry for love, rather than status.
King George VI and the Queen Mother’s union
Quinn detailed: “In 1923, royal snobbery was at its peak. But it wasn’t the strain of madness that ran through the Bowes-Lyons that would have prevented the marriage had Bertie been the first-born son. The difficulty would have been that, on one side, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was descended from Durham mine owners.”
Despite being from an aristocratic family, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon’s lineage was even questioned by the royal family…
The book claimed that ultimately, Prince Albert “simply needed a strong woman from the right sort of aristocratic background,” and of course, they were allowed to marry.
Unfortunately, the judgement of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon’s background didn’t end there. Over the years, rumours have swirled.
Theories about Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon’s background
The divisive author and TV star Lady Colin Campbell previously claimed that a cook named Marguerite Rodiere gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth in an arrangement described as “an early version of surrogacy,” as per reports.
Lady Colin Campbell penned in her 2012 book, The Queen Mother, The untold story of Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, Who became Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, also alleged that this is why Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, was given a French middle name.
She penned: “Royal and aristocratic circles had been alight for decades with the story that Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, while undoubtedly the daughter of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, was not the child of his wife Cecilia, nor was her younger brother David, born nearly two years after her on 2nd May, 1902. The two Benjamins, as they were known in the Bowes Lyon family (in a Biblical allusion to the brother of Joseph, who was himself the product of a coupling between his father and his mother’s maid) were supposedly the children of Marguerite Rodiere, an attractive and pleasant Frenchwoman who had been the cook at St Paul’s Waldenbury and is meant to have provided Lord and Lady Glamis with the two children they so yearned for after Cecilia was forbidden by her doctors from producing any more progeny.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s cruel nickname for the Queen Mother
“Hence the nickname of Cookie, which the Duke and Duchess of Windsor took care to promulgate throughout international society once Elizabeth proved herself to be their most formidable enemy.”
When Lady Colin Campbell’s claims emerged, they were widely criticised, especially due to the timing of the book release.
Released in March of 2012, at the time, close to when Queen Elizabeth II held a service of remembrance for her mother, to mark the 10th anniversary of her death.
Criticism of Lady Colin Campbell’s claims
Editor of Royal History Geeks, Gareth, discussed in a lengthy blog several reasons why Lady Colin Campbell’s claims are out of order.
He highlighted how the matter of her middle name was likely a coincidence and pointed out that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s cruel nickname for the Queen Mother was again used to be derogatory, rather than being based off any truth.
He said: “The snub of the Windsors also adds no weight to this case. They are widely understood to have used this nickname because the then Duchess of York, with her soft and plump appearance, reminded them of a Scottish Cook. More than anything else, they were just looking to be derogatory.”
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon’s resemblance with her mother Cecilia, Countess of Strathmore
Gareth also discussed in detail just how much Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon looked like her mother, Cecilia, Countess of Strathmore: “Anyway, this theory begs some even more obvious questions. After bearing eight healthy children, would the couple really be so desperate to have another two that they would go to such extremes? Would the proud and high-born coupling of Bowes-Lyon and Cavendish really be so prepared to contaminate their blood line?
“The real reason this suggestion is so ludicrous, is the striking physical resemblance between Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and her own mother. While I appreciate that this isn’t the most scientific approach in the world, let’s just stand back a minute and take a look at some pictures. I genuinely don’t believe anyone can look at these pictures and honestly take alternative theories about the Queen Mother’s parentage seriously. I can only conclude that Lady Colin Campbell’s desire to sell books far out weighted her determination to tell the truth.”
Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.
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