Queen’s relative jailed following sexual assault at ancestral home

The Earl of Strathmore has been sentenced to 10 months in prison

A relative of Queen Elizabeth's has been jailed for 10 months after sexually assaulting a woman in his ancestral home. Simon Bowes-Lyon last month pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman at Glamis Castle, Angus, in February 2020, the home where the Queen Mother spent most of her childhood. 34-year-old Bowes-Lyon, the Earl of Strathmore, was sentenced today at Dundee Sheriff Court. In a statement released previously, he said he was "greatly ashamed of my actions which have caused such distress to a guest in my home." "I did not think I was capable of behaving the way I did but have had to face up to it and take responsibility," he said. "Over the last year this has involved seeking and receiving professional help as well as agreeing to plead guilty as quickly as possible." Bowes-Lyon added he had "drunk to excess" on the night of the attack, but that this was "no excuse" for what happened. "My apologies go, above all, to the woman concerned but I would also like to apologise to family, friends and colleagues for the distress I have caused them," he said. Bowes-Lyon, the son of a cousin of Queen Elizabeth, has since been added to the Sex Offenders Register, where he will remain for 10 years. In 2002, he walked behind Prince William as part of the Queen Mother's funeral cortege.