The Queen’s cousin has been jailed for 10 months after sexually assaulting a woman at his Scottish castle.
Simon Bowes-Lyon, 34, admitted forcing his way into the sleeping woman’s room at Glamis Castle in Angus, and assaulting her while drunk.
He is said to have repeatedly pushed her onto a bed and against a wall, forcibly grabbed her breasts and tried to pull up her nightdress in an attack lasting 20 minutes.
She eventually managed to get him out of her room.
After pleading guilty last month, Bowes-Lyon, who is the Earl of Strathmore and Queen Elizabeth’s cousin twice removed, said he was greatly ashamed for causing ‘such distress’ to a guest in his ancestral home.
He said he had ‘drunk to excess’ on the night of the attack, which he said was ‘no excuse’ for his actions.
He added: ‘I did not think I was capable of behaving the way I did but have had to face up to it and take responsibility.
‘Over the last year this has involved seeking and receiving professional help as well as agreeing to plead guilty as quickly as possible.
‘My apologies go, above all, to the woman concerned but I would also like to apologise to family, friends and colleagues for the distress I have caused them.’
Glamis Castle is the seat of the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne, the family which the late Queen Mother was part of.
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