Simon Bowes-Lyon: Queen's cousin faces 5 years jail for breaking into woman’s room and groping her, says he was drunk
The Queen's cousin, 34-year-old Simon Bowes-Lyon, is looking at jail time for a violent sex attack. Simon broke into the bedroom of a woman and groped her when she was asleep during an event that he had been hosting at his ancestral home Glamis Castle in Scotland. The assault had been drink-fuelled and had lasted for around 20 minutes.
Simon kept grabbing the victim and touching her inappropriately. He also reportedly told the victim, who is in her 20s, that he wanted to have an affair with her. The accused is the Queen's cousin, twice removed, and had also allegedly tried to pull up her nightdress, push her up against the wall and grope her. He then called the victim a "rude, mean, bad and horrible person" as he told her that she couldn't tell him what to do in his own home. After the victim was able to kick him out of the room, he returned and tried to get back inside the bedroom again.
While at the Dundee Crown Court on January 12, Simon admitted to a charge of sexual assault and is currently facing up to five years in prison for his offense which had taken place in February last year. He was granted bail and has been put in the sex offenders register as his sentence was deferred.
Who is Simon Bowes-Lyon?
Simon, who is known as Sam, is a great-great-nephew of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen mother. Simon had been seen walking behind Prince William at the Queen mother's funeral when he was 15 years old and described himself as a farmer to the police.
Simon is also known as the Earl of Strathmore and is the Queen's cousin twice removed. He is also the 19th Earl of Strathmore and is the son of Michael Bowes Lyon, who was the 18th Earl and a politician and soldier. It is reported that in June 2020, he was contacted by the Durham Police for violating Covid-19 protocol related to travel restrictions put in place. As per a report, he had traveled around 200 miles to Holwick Lodge, Middleton-in-Teesdale, and was seen buying newspapers.
Assault and apology
He admitted that he had pushed the victim onto a bed and kept trying to pull off her nightdress during the event last year. While leaving the court, he issued an apology and said, "I am greatly ashamed of my actions which have caused such distress to a guest in my home. Clearly I had drunk to excess on the night of the incident. As someone who is only too well aware of the damage that alcohol can cause, I should have known better. I recognize, in any event, that alcohol is no excuse for my behavior. I did not think I was capable of behaving the way I did but have had to face up to it and take responsibility," he said.
He continued, "My apologies go, above all, to the woman concerned, but I would also like to apologize to family, friends and colleagues for the distress I have caused them."
Fiscal depute Lynne Mannion revealed, "She was asleep and was woken by knocking at the door." She shared that Simon told the woman, "It’s Sam. It’s important. Please let me in. She thought something was wrong so she got up. It was pitch black. The second she opened the door he pushed his way in and pushed her on to the bed."
"He was very drunk and smelled of cigarettes. He told her he wanted to have an affair. He tried to pull her nightdress up," Mannion added. "She went into the en suite to get away but the accused followed her, stopped her closing the door, and lit a cigarette. She squeezed past and went back to the bedroom. She raised her voice in the hope that another guest would hear her. She panicked because she did not know the layout of the castle. She had no signal. He refused to leave. He got into bed and began pulling at her. She had to keep pushing him off," Mannion said.
The woman fled the castle in the morning and flew home to report the matter to the authorities.