Queen's cousin Lady Mary Colman dies aged 88

The Prince of Wales with Lady Mary Colman at a memorial service for the Queen Mother in Norfolk. Lady Mary died on 2 January. (PA Images)

The Queen’s cousin Lady Mary Colman has died at the age of 88, her family has confirmed.

She died on 2 January at home, according to an obituary in The Daily Telegraph.

The obituary read: “Lady Mary Cecilia died peacefully at home on Saturday 2 January 2021, aged 88. Most dearly loved wife of Sir Timothy Colman KG, adored mother of Sarah, Sabrina, Emma, James and Matthew, grandmother of ten, great-grandmother of sixteen.

“Private family funeral and a Service of Thanksgiving for Mary's life to be held at a later date.”

Lady Colman was the daughter of Captain Michael Bowes-Lyon and the niece of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. She had a twin sister, Lady Patricia Bowes-Lyon, who died in 1995.

She married Timothy Colman, whose family set up the mustard company in Norwich, in 1951 when she was 19.

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According to Eastern Daily Press, their early married life was spent in Dorset, but her husband went on to become Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk and the couple moved to Norwich.

She loved the area, including Norwich FC, who she cheered on at Carrow Road, and Norwich Cathedral.

She also became president of the newspaper’s We Care 2000 Appeal, which aimed to improve the life of carers in the area.

Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Sir Timothy Colman of Colman's Mustard, at the Garden Party at Sandringham House in Norfolk in 2002. (Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)

Lady Colman worked with other charities, including the Red Cross.

She was an Extra Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Alexandra, another of the Queen’s cousins. Princess Alexandra is a working royal, but Lady Colman was not.

Lady Colman’s granddaughter is continuing the royal links – she is now the Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire, so is the Queen’s representative in the county.

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Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, with Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire Sarah Troughton (L) and Philippa Read chief executive of Community First (R) in Devizes in 2015. (Matthew Horwood – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Lady Colman’s family said she was “loved by all who met her”.

According to the Peerage News website, Lady Colman’s father was present in the gallery of the House of Commons in 1936 when the abdication bill passed, meaning he saw the moment the current Queen became heir apparent to the throne.

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