The Death of The Lady Soames, LG, DBE

Lady Soames was the youngest of Winston and Clementine's five children, and the last surviving child. Born on September 15, 1922, she was 91 at the time of her death. She had, in terms of longevity, outlived Sir Winston, who died on January 24, 1965 at the age of 90. In addition to keeping the memory of her father green, she was an accomplished writer in her own right. From the biography of her mother, through the wonderfully revealing portrait of her parents' marriage in her 700+ page collection of their correspondence, to her final work, A Daughter's Tale: The Memoir of Winston Churchill's Youngest Child, she was a frank, witty and captivating writer. She won the Wolfson History Prize and was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She was also named a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE) and a Lady Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (LG).

Lady Soames was a great friend of Canada, and was the Patron of the oldest and newest Churchill Societies, namely, the Rt. Hon. Sir Winston S. Churchill Society of Edmonton (1963) and the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa (2011). When she was still travelling regularly, she also spoke to the various Canadian Churchill Societies.

Her husband, Lord Soames, died in 1987. She is survived by their five children, Nicholas, Emma, Jeremy, Charlotte and Rupert, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

For additional coverage of her death, including text and pictures, see the BBC, the New York Times, the Guardian, and the Telegraph, among many others.

You may also be interested in reading the lovely interview with Lady Soames by Graham Turner, first published in the Daily Telegraph and then in issue #116 of Finest Hour (Autumn 2002).