Dame Shân Legge-Bourke, the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry’s former nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke, recently passed away aged, 82, as per PEOPLE.
Dame Shân’s family announced her death on Monday, December 15th. She passed away “peacefully at her home surrounded by all her children,” they said in a statement.
“We are devastated to lose our mother,” the family wrote on Instagram. “She was an inspiration to us all, and to many people she met over her years of service to Wales, and the countless organisations and institutions she supported.”
“A country girl at heart, she has left an indelible legacy at Glanusk, the wider countryside and beyond,” concluded the message, referring to the historic Glanusk estate in Wales owned by the Legge-Bourke family.
Dame Shân was a lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth and served as Lord Lieutenant of Powys until 2018 and chair of the Brecon and Radnor Country and Land Association. She also had close ties with the royal family for many years and often accompanied the late Queen Elizabeth and other family members at royal events.
Dame Shân often invited Prince William, and Prince Harry, to Glanusk Estate, which she inherited from her father William Bailey in 1948, and the family remained close with the pair for years, per the Daily Mail.
Tiggy was hired as the princes’ nanny in 1993, when King Charles and Princess Diana separated, alongside working as a personal assistant to Charles, until 1999. Tiggy later attended Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2018 wedding and is godmother to their first child, son Archie.
Dame Shân featured in the 2006 BBC Wales documentary The Lady of Glanusk, where she was seen climbing the roof and plucking pheasants as she discussed her love for nature.
“From a really early age I was encouraged by everyone on the estate to be able to put my hand to whatever I could, whether that be searching for eggs, picking raspberries or sitting in the tractor,” she said, per Wales Online.
