Lady Margaret Douglas-Home

Lady Margaret Douglas-Home
Born	Hon. Alexandra Margaret Elizabeth Spencer 4 July 1906 London, England
Died	26 May 1996(1996-05-26) (aged 89)
Alma mater	Royal College of Music
Occupation(s)	Musician, writer, arts promoter
Spouse	Hon. Henry Montagu Douglas-Home ​ ​ (1931⁠–⁠1947)​
Children	3
Parent(s)	Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer Hon. Margaret Baring
Relatives	Diana, Princess of Wales (grandniece)
Family	Spencer

Lady Alexandra Margaret Elizabeth Douglas-Home (née Spencer, 4 July 1906 – 26 May 1996) was an English musician, writer, and arts promoter. She founded the Burnham Market Festival and served as its director for almost two decades.

Early years

Born into the aristocratic Spencer family in London in 1906, Lady Margaret was the sixth and youngest child of Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer, and Hon. Margaret Baring (1868–1906), daughter of the first Lord Revelstoke, a banker. Her mother died during Margaret's birth. Her godmother was Queen Alexandra. Her youth was spent at Althorp and at Spencer House.

Lady Margaret was mainly educated at home under a governess, but spent some time at Northampton Secondary School for Girls, attending events such as concerts at the Albert Hall. She shared the musical interests of her mother and grandmother, who were both violinists, and became herself an accomplished pianist. After her father's death in 1922, Lady Margaret went to Paris to study French and music. She then accompanied Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone to South Africa as a lady-in-waiting, before resuming her music studies in Vienna. She also studied at the Royal College of Music in London, where she later became a trustee.

Career

Lady Margaret worked in the publications department of the National Gallery in 1941 and as a lady-in-waiting to Princess Alexandra in the 1950s.

In the post-war years, she ran the Home and Van Thal publishing firm, together with Herbert van Thal and Gwylim Fielden Hughes, until was taken over by Arthur Barker about 1952.

Lady Margaret also bought and ran an antiques business in Burnham Market, Norfolk. This led her in 1974 to found Burnham Market Festival, which began as a series of concerts, poetry readings and drama productions. She continued as its director until 1992.

Her autobiography, A Spencer Childhood, appeared in 1994.

Personal life

In 1931, Lady Margaret married Hon. Henry Montagu Douglas-Home (1907–1980), second son of the Charles Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of Home and a brother of Alec Douglas-Home, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1963–1964. The marriage was dissolved in 1947. They had two sons, Robin (died 1968) and Charles (died 1985). Their daughter Fiona married first Gregory Martin and secondly the merchant banker Sir Ian James Fraser (1923–2003), former chairman of Lazard. Lady Margaret was a great-aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, and a close friend of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She died at Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, in 1996.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Lady Margaret Douglas-Home

16. John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer 8. George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer 17. Georgiana Poyntz 4. Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer 18. Charles Bingham, 1st Earl of Lucan 9. Lady Lavinia Bingham 19. Margaret Smith 2. Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer 20. Lord Hugh Seymour 10. Col. Sir Horace Beauchamp Seymour 21. Lady Anne Horatia Waldegrave 5. Adelaide Seymour 22. Sir Lawrence Palk, 2nd Baronet of Haldon House 11. Elizabeth Malet Palk 23. Lady Dorothy Elizabeth Vaughan 1. Margaret Douglas-Home 24. Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet 12. Henry Baring 25. Harriet Herring 6. Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke 26. William Lukin 13. Cecilia Anne Windham 27. Anne Thellusson 3. Hon. Margaret Baring 28. John Bulteel 14. John Crocker Bulteel 29. Elizabeth Perring 7. Louisa Bulteel 30. Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister of Great Britain 15. Lady Elizabeth Grey 31. Hon. Mary Elizabeth Ponsonby