More tragedy for the Queen as another close friend dies
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Just weeks after the passing of the Duchess of Grafton, the Queen lost another devoted friend when Lady Diana Farnham died just four days after Christmas. She was 90 years old.
Diana Maxwell has been by Her Majesty’s side ever since she started working with her in 1987 as the Queen’s Lady of Bedchamber.
The 95-year-old monarch considered Lady Farnham one of her most trusted confidants throughout her 44 years of service to the royal family.
Lady Farnham was the second close friend of the Queen to pass away in recent weeks. Credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images.
Lady Farnham’s passing was another blow to the Queen’s rather tragic year, following her husband, Prince Philip’s death in April and one of her closest friends, Ann Fortune FitzRoy’s death last month.
“It is very sad for the Queen,” said a royal source.
“Everyone loved Lady Farnham; she was always so good-humoured. She was also a very glamorous and attractive woman. She was always very generous to new people joining the household.”
“It has not been a good year for the Queen - losing her husband and then the Duchess of Grafton and now Lady Farnham.”
In 2012, Lady Farnham rode alongside the Queen on her way to the Diamond Jubilee service when Prince Philip was too ill to attend.
“They were dear friends who supported the Queen on official duties,” they added.
“Unfortunately, a sad consequence of living a long life is that you have to say goodbye to a lot of people you care about.”
Lady Farnham’s death was confirmed in the Irish Times, which read: “Diana, Lady Farnham DCVO died peacefully at home on December 29, 2021. Much loved wife, mother and grandmother. Interment of ashes at Kilmore Cathedral, Co. Cavan at a later date.”
The Queen delivered her annual Christmas message after a year of loss. Credit: The Royal Family.
In her annual Christmas speech last week, the Queen paid tribute to her beloved husband, Prince Philip, by displaying a photo of them together and donning a sapphire brooch she wore on their honeymoon in 1947.
“But for me, in the months since the death of my beloved Philip, I have drawn great comfort from the warmth and affection of the many tributes to his life and work – from around the country, the Commonwealth and the world,” said the Queen.
“But life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings, and as much as my family and I miss him, I know he would want us to enjoy Christmas.”
Queen Elizabeth II considered Prince Philip her ‘strength and guide’ throughout their 73 years of marriage.
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