King Charles pays tribute to Lady Airlie, his mother’s close confidant and first American lady in waiting following news of her death at 91

The King has expressed his deep sadness at the death of Virginia Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie, one of the late Queen’s dearest friends who has passed away at 91.

Virginia ‘Ginny’ Ryan was the first American to have served as a lady-in-waiting to the late Queen when she was appointed lady of the bedchamber in 1973 – and was with her right up until her death in September 2022.

The countess – a US transport and tobacco firm heiress – was born in Newport, Rhode Island, in February 1933, the granddaughter of German-American financier Otto Kahn.

She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (DCVO) in 1995 and was one of the late monarch’s most trusted confidantes.

So close were they that the late Queen made what is believed to have been her only visit to a nightclub when she visited Annabel’s in 2003 to celebrate Lady Virginia’s 70th birthday.

King Charles III has paid tribute to his mother’s close confidant Lady Airlie (Pictured: right with Queen Elizabeth II in 1992) following her death at 91

Virginia ‘Ginny’ Ryan was the first American to have served as a lady-in-waiting to the late Queen (Pictured: right with Queen Elizabeth II in 1992)

His majesty King Charles during a visit at the Senedd to commemorate its 25 anniversary in July

According to Nigel Dempster, the Mail’s acclaimed diarist, the evening was a huge success – the monarch left at midnight and ‘did thoroughly enjoy herself’.

A statement released from Buckingham Palace yesterday read: ‘His Majesty was deeply saddened to hear the news, having known Lady Airlie for so much of his life and having so greatly appreciated her immense devotion and dedicated service to Her late Majesty over so many years.’

King Charles is on holiday in Scotland but has spoken with the countess’s family to express his sympathies. Lady Virginia’s husband David – himself a childhood friend of the late Queen – was the 13th Earl of Airlie and Chancellor of the Order of the Thistle until his death last year at the age of 97.

He attended the last three coronations: as a page at King George VI’s in 1937; at Queen Elizabeth’s as an official and recently at Charles III’s where he sat in the front row of the nave wearing the robes of a Knight of the Thistle.

The couple, who married in October 1952, were key figures in the late Queen’s royal household – regularly staying at Sandringham and Balmoral. 

In 1995, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (DCVO) (pictured behind the late Queen at Sheridan College of Applied Arts)

She married Queen Elizabeth’s childhood friend the 13th Earl of Airlie David Ogilvy (pictured with Lady Virginia)

Lady Virginia also frequently joined the Queen on trips to the US and met President and Barbara Bush at the White House in 1991 for a state dinner.

She accompanied the Queen again in 2007 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of England’s first American settlement at Jamestown, Virginia.

Outside of the royal household, she also managed a flower farm at the family seat – Cortachy Castle near Kirriemuir.

The earl had been such a permanent fixture in the lives of the Royal Family that he was portrayed in the 2006 film The Queen by actor Douglas Reith. David and Virginia had six children together and 11 grandchildren.