Simon Bowes-Lyon, the 19th and 6th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, who has just started a 10-month jail term for sexual assault on a female guest at his home, Glamis Castle in Scotland, previously joked about being the "Monster of Glamis", reported The Daily Telegraph.
First cousin twice removed of Queen Elizabeth II, the millionaire who was named one of Britain’s 50 most eligible bachelors by Tatler magazine in 2019 reportedly made the reference to the ghost which is believed to haunt his ancestral home just hours before the violent sex attack on the 26-year-old victim.
According to lore, Glamis Castle is haunted by at least nine ghosts, the most blood-curdling of all being the Monster of Glamis. Legend has it that this was a 19th-century heir to the earldom who was stashed away in a secret room all his life because of his terrifying deformities.
Royal relative the Earl of Strathmore has been jailed for 10 months for sexually assaulting a woman at his family castle https://t.co/s6zxwIYb6Q pic.twitter.com/9ueLIuNJMf
— Tatler (@Tatlermagazine) February 23, 2021
When asked about the Monster of Glamis in February 2020 by guests, Bowes-Lyon, 34, ostensibly replied:
“Look no further. Here I am.”
Hours later, after indulging in a night of heavy drinking, the Queen Mother's great-great-nephew carried out a sexual assault on a female guest - whose name has not been revealed for legal reasons - in one of the grand bedrooms.
Bowes-Lyon, who admitted to attacking the woman and was up for sentencing at Dundee Sheriff Court on 23 February, issued a statement outside court.
As if she hadn't enough worries (husband in hospital, grandson estranged, nation in pandemic) the Queen finds her cousin jailed. #SimonBowesLyon, EarlOfStrathmore, who expressed remorse, was sentenced to10months today after admitting sexually assaulting woman at his Scots castle last yr pic.twitter.com/2zNbWSA0u9
— Derek Todd (@supra_fox) February 23, 2021
“I am greatly ashamed of my actions which have caused such distress to a guest in my home. When I realised what I had done I apologised quickly to the woman concerned… Clearly, I had drunk to excess on the night of the incident. I recognise, in any event, that alcohol is no excuse for my behaviour,” the earl said.
The millionaire, who will remain on the sex offenders' register for a decade, added:
“I did not think I was capable of behaving in the way I did but have had to face up to it and take responsibility. Over the past year this has involved seeking and receiving professional help as well as agreeing to plead guilty.”
