Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy
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The Right Honourable The Lady Fermoy DCVO OBE |
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|---|---|
| Born |
Ruth Sylvia Gill 2 October 1908 Bieldside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
| Died | 6 July 1993 (aged 84) 36 Eaton Square, London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Paris Conservatoire |
| Occupation | Extra Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother |
| Known for | Maternal grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales |
| Spouse(s) | Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy |
| Children | Mary Cynthia Roche (b. 1934) Frances Shand Kydd (1936–2004) Edmund Roche, 5th Baron Fermoy (1939–1984) |
| Parent(s) | William Smith Gill Ruth Littlejohn |
Ruth Sylvia Roche, Baroness Fermoy DCVO OBE (née Gill; 2 October 1908 – 6 July 1993) was a friend and confidante of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and the maternal grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Lady Fermoy was born Ruth Sylvia Gill on 2 October 1908 at her father's house, Dalhebity, Bieldside, Aberdeenshire, the daughter of Colonel William Smith Gill and his wife Ruth (née Littlejohn). She showed early promise as a pianist and studied under Alfred Cortot at the Paris Conservatoire in the 1920s.
Her musical career was cut short when she met, and later married in 1931, the wealthy and much older Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy. Lord and Lady Fermoy had three children, including her younger daughter, Frances, who would become the mother of Diana. Lady Fermoy did play the piano in public occasionally after her marriage, most notably with Josef Krips at the Royal Albert Hall in 1950, and with Sir John Barbirolli and the Hallé Orchestra at King's Lynn in 1966. She founded the King's Lynn Festival in 1951 and remained closely involved with the Festival for 25 years, persuading Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother to become its patron.
In 1956, the Queen Mother appointed Lady Fermoy an Extra Woman of the Bedchamber. The Queen Mother, being a widow herself, showed a preference for appointing widows to her household, and four years later Lady Fermoy was promoted to Woman of the Bedchamber, a post she held for the next 33 years. Lady Fermoy was a firm believer in the sanctity of marriage. In 1969, her daughter Frances and John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, divorced after Frances left her husband for Peter Shand Kydd. Lady Fermoy testified against her daughter, which allowed Lord Spencer to retain custody of Diana.
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