the monster of glamis castle

dear readers

one of the most famous castles in great britain is glamis castle. it was the childhood home of the queen mother, and princess margaret was born there. fewer people knew of the stranger story of the monster.

in 1821 the legend goes , The firstborn son of the 11th earl was born grotesquely deformed. His body was shaped like an egg. He had tiny arms and legs and no neck. The large torso was covered with hair. There is said to be a monarchical painting in Glamis, where, in the background, an amoured figure with disproportionately large arms and legs can be seen. This figure, supposedly, is the "Monster". He was known as the Monster of Glamis and was the rightful heir to the estate.

His chamber, which is recounted as measuring 10 ft by 15 ft, was entered from the chapel. There is no known account of how the room was accessible, but presumably it would have been through a removable panel or some such as there is no visible entrance from the chapel. In 1969, the Queen Mother's biographerMichael Thornton visited Glamis and was told by the sixteenth Earl that the entrance had been bricked up after Thomas's death.

The details of Thomas's appearance -- come from James Wentworth Day's The Queen Mother's Family Story. They are attributed to "a member of the Queen Mother's family". Wentworth-Day's account is the first in which the information was gathered direct from members of the Queen mother's family, even though they were understandably reluctant to be named. It is suspected that on several occasions, the Queen Mother herself was the source. In Peter Underwood's A-Z of British Ghosts he is described as "an enormous flabby egg". There is said to be a monarchical painting in Glamis, where, in the background, an amoured figure with disproportionately large arms and legs can be seen. This figure, supposedly, is the "Monster".

Thomas was fed daily through an iron grille in his cell door by one trusted servant. It is not believed that Thomas ever left this cell, but some associated rumours claim that he was occasionally exercised by being taken for a walk, like a dog, on the battlements on moonless nights. The castle has a section named Mad Earl's Walk to this day.

Wentworth-Day describes a tale whereby a workman carrying out renovation at Glamis in the early 1900s found the secret passage, and explored it, and became "alarmed" at what he found there. The Earl and his lawyer were summoned from London, and they stopped the work and interrogated the man. The result of this was that he was bribed into silence and emigration (to Australia) with several hundred thousand pounds of hush money, an enormous sum for those days.

Also from Wentworth-Day comes the story of the Queen Mother's mother, the Countess of Strathmore, trying to get the Glamis factor Andrew Ralston, whom the Earl had confided in, to tell her the truth about the family secret. He told her "it is fortunate you do not know the truth for, if you did, you would never spend another night beneath this roof". Only the Earl and his heir are ever fully in the know, told the secret - as they should know they were not the rightful inheritor of the title - on his 21st birthday. Once the "monster" had died, the heir was given a choice as to whether he wanted to know or not, there no longer being a reason why he must be told and to save him distress..It is claimed that the workman event happened in the 1870s. This would indicate that Thomas was in his fifties at the time. The circumstances and date of his death are unknown. Thomas's mother, Charlotte Grimstead, died in 1881. In another event, guests at the castle, upon hearing rumours of the monster, decided to hang a piece of rag from every window in the castle that they could access. Upon surveying their work, they found a number of windows ragless, and therefore termed them secret rooms. Unfortunately, the Earl returned, and discovering their experiment, threw them out.

what is the monster? a poor deformed child? It is known that in the 20th century, two members of the Bowes-Lyon family, Nerissa Bowes-Lyon {1919-1986}and Katherine Bowes-Lyon {b.1926} were reported to have died but were in fact confined to mental hospitals. As were 3 cousins related to Narissa and Katherine-Idonea Fane (1912–2001), Rosemary Jean (born 1914), and Etheldreda Flavia Fane (born 1922-died 1986). or was it a nightmarish spawn of hell? the answer i guess will never be known


love and peace


Alex Why so serious? Stallwitz