BROTHER OF DUCHESS BECOMES ENGAGED

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 511, 14 November 1928, Page 13

BROTHER OF DUCHESS BECOMES ENGAGED

MR. DAVID BOWES-LYON STORY OF A VISION The engagement of the youngest brother of the Duchess of York, the Hon. David Bowes-Lyon, to Miss Machel Spender-Clay, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Spender-Clay, M.P.. and the Hon. Mrs. Spender-Clay, is announced. They became engaged when Mr. Bowes-Lyon visited Spey Bay, the Scottish fishing and golfing resort, where Miss Spender- Clay is staying with her parents. Mr. Bowes-Lyon, who is the fourth son of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, is 26. His fiancee is 22. The date of'the wedding is not yet fixed, but it is expected that it will take place in London early next year. Miss Spender-Clay is a. keen sportswoman. She is a skilful salmon fisher and horse rider. Last January she had a serious accident in the hunting field, when she was thrown from her horse. She was rendered unconscious, but made a good recovery. She inherits the dark beauty of her mother, a daughter of the first Viscount Astor.. Mr. David Bowes-Lyon. who is staying at Glamis Castle, said, “Miss Spender-Clay and I have been friends for some time, but I cannot remember liow we first met. We have no definite plans at present.” As a child Mr. David Bowes-Lyon was the inseparable playmate of the Duchess of York. They were so attached to each other that they were described by Lady Strathmore as “the two Benjamins.” Together they walked, rode, danced, and played games of make-believe. Mr. David Bowes-Lyon’s only complaint against his sister was that she outpaced him at her lessons. , During his boyhood Mr. David Bowes-Lyon is said to have possessed the gift of second sight. Vision that Came True When it was reported by the War Office that his brother Michael had been killed in France, he refused to believe that he was dead, persisting that he had seen him twice and that “his head was tied up in a cloth.” Later the news came that Captain Michael had been wounded, and was a prisoner in Germany. Ford Manor, Lingfield, Surrey, Is the home of Lieut.-Colonel Spender-Clay, who has been Conservative M.P. for Tonbridge, Kent, since 1910, and who served with distinction in both the South African and Great Wars. A string of priceless black pearls, said to have been owned by the Empress Catherine of Russia, is one of the family’s treasured heirlooms. <From Yesterday’s Late Kditipn)