Queen Elizabeth II’s godson dies after suffering head injury – details
Lord Charles O’Hagan, the godson of the late Queen Elizabeth II, has passed away at the age of 79 after suffering a severe head injury.
An inquest opening in Exeter revealed that the former Conservative peer died on 23 March at the North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple.
© GettyThe cause of death was attributed to a subdural hematoma, a condition often caused by head trauma. Lord O’Hagan held a close connection to the royal family as the godson of Queen Elizabeth II.
Charles – full name Charles Towneley Strachey O’Hagan – served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Devon twice, from 1973 to 1975 and from 1979 to 1994. He also had a ceremonial role as a Page of Honour to the late Queen between 1959 and 1962.
Charles was educated at Eton College before attending New College, Oxford – where he graduated with a BA in 1961 and later an MA.
Royal connections
The late Queen Elizabeth became Charles’ godparent when she was still Princess Elizabeth. His grandfather, Maurice Towneley-O’Hagan, 3rd Baron O’Hagan, was a well-known politician in the UK.
© GettyCharles was among the 30 godchildren of Queen Elizabeth, though not all of them have been revealed to the public. Among them are brother Earl Spencer and Princess Margaret’s son David Armstrong-Jones.
Personal life
Charles was married three times; firstly, to the Georgian Princess Tamara Imeretinsky in 1967, before they divorced in 1984.
They had one daughter, Nino Natalia O’Hagan Strachey, who was born in 1968 and became an art historian and curator.
His second wife was Mary Claire Roose-Francis, whom he married in 1985—but they divorced ten years later in 1995.
Later that year, Charles married his third wife, Elizabeth Lesley Eve Smith.
Staff Had “Never Seen Queen Elizabeth as Angry” as When Royal Visitor “From Hell” Brought a Dangerous Surprise Guest
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To royal watchers, state visits appear to be filled with pomp, ceremony and plenty of sparkling tiaras. But bringing world leaders and the Royal Family together doesn’t always go quite so well, as explored in the latest episode of the Daily Mail’s podcast “Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things.” Some international guests at Buckingham Palace have caused a stir over the years, and royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Kate Williams revealed one incident that caused Queen Elizabeth to lose her cool.
During an episode titled “Royal House Guests From Hell,” Hardman shared that in 1973, the “shameless dictator” President Mobutu of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and his wife, Marie-Antoinette Mobutu, were invited to London on behalf of the British government. At the time, Britain was “very keen to get contracts for a new power station” Mobutu was planning to build.
In the 1970s, rabies was a major concern throughout Europe, but Britain had remained rabies-free. That meant a “strict quarantine” period of six months for animals brought into the country, as Williams noted. However, Mrs. Mobutu decided to sneak her dog into her luggage for the trip—and into Buckingham Palace.
Once the Mobutus were settled in the Belgian Suite at the palace, Marie-Antoinette called down to the kitchen and said, “Can I have a plate of raw meat, please,” per Hardman. The staff member who delivered the unusual request saw Mrs. Mobutu feeding the meat to her dog and immediately told his boss, who sent the message up the chain of command—and one man had to “break the news” to Queen Elizabeth.
“This is a major diplomatic problem,” Hardman said, adding that the couple had “flagrantly broken the laws of the land” by bringing a dog that “could potentially have rabies.”
“The master of the household had to break the news to The Queen, and said afterwards that he’d never seen The Queen as angry,” Hardman said, adding “several people” agreed that they’d never witnessed the late monarch get so “appalled.”
Queen Elizabeth’s response? “Get that dog out of my house.”
The corgis were sent to Windsor Castle for their safety, and an unlucky member of staff had to take Mrs. Mobutu’s dog to be quarantined for six months.
Hardman continued that “Mobutu himself tried to explain it away a couple of nights later” in a speech, pointing out that “the dog was actually from Britain in the first place” and that “his wife had merely wanted to show it its homeland.”
To add insult to injury during the “dreadful visit,” the Mobutus went home with roughly £1 million from the Foreign Office and “no contracts were ever signed.” According to Hardman, “the money was never seen again, and Mobutu, in due course, was deposed.”
Queen Elizabeth Gave the Perfect Response When Pope Francis Presented Her With Priceless Gifts for Prince George
King Charles and Queen Camilla expressed their “heavy hearts” over the death of Pope Francis on Monday, April 21, but Queen Elizabeth II also met with the late pontiff during her reign. The late Queen, who was 87 at the time, and Prince Philip traveled to Vatican City in 2014 to meet Pope Francis for the first time—and during their visit, he presented the royal couple with some priceless and extremely sentimental gifts for baby Prince George.
George, who was born in July 2013, was just eight months old when his grandparents flew to Italy, but the pope wanted to give the infant a special gift. Per the Express, Pope Francis presented Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip with a custom-made lapis lazuli orb “featuring a silver cross of St. Edward the Confessor.” The piece was inscribed, “From Pope Francis to Prince George of Cambridge.”
In addition, he gave baby George a priceless manuscript from 1679 proclaiming Edward the Confessor’s saint day. The gifts were especially meaningful choices for the future monarch considering Edward the Confessor—who ruled as King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066—is the patron saint of kings.
The late pope presented Queen Elizabeth with special gifts to bring home to Prince George in 2014.
The orb featured a personal engraving from the pope.
Prince Philip showed the pope some of the gifts they brought for him, such as Balmoral whiskey.
Per the Express, Pope Francis told Queen Elizabeth the gifts were “for the little boy” as they took a look at the orb and framed document. In reply, the late Queen said, “He will be thrilled with that.”
However, considering George was just a baby at the time, she added, “When he’s a little older.”
The pope wasn’t left out of the gift-giving fun during the 2014 visit, as the late Queen and Prince Philip brought him a basket full of treats from Britain, including Balmoral whiskey, honey and soaps made on royal estates.
Pope Francis died at the age of 88 on April 21 after suffering from double pneumonia earlier this year. The King and Queen Camilla canceled their official engagement with the pope during their state visit to Italy this month, but met with him privately on April 9, their 20th wedding anniversary.
The Witty Way Queen Elizabeth Responded When a Relative Said Corgis “Should Be Shot”
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Queen Elizabeth II was known for her love of corgis, so it’s unsurprising she had an acerbic response to a Royal Family member criticizing her beloved dogs.
In Karen Dolby’s book, The Wicked Wit of Queen Elizabeth II, it was revealed that Princess Michael of Kent reportedly shared her opinion on the monarch’s corgis, saying they “should be shot” (via the Express). Without missing a beat, the Queen reportedly responded by saying, “They’re better behaved than she is.”
According to the Express, Princess Michael gained a reputation for making inappropriate comments. For instance, she allegedly called Windsor Castle’s decor “awful,” and apparently dubbed some Royal Family members as “boring.” While her statement about Queen Elizabeth’s corgis is undoubtedly shocking, the late monarch had perhaps come to expect the unexpected from her relative.
In late 2024, auction house Hansons acquired correspondence from the Royal Family to photography expert Alan Maxwell, which included a personal note from the late Queen referencing her dogs. The funny note read, “Please check the prints with the negatives to find out which is missing—eaten by the puppies!” and was signed “memorandum from The Queen.” Clearly, the Queen’s corgis liked to get up to some very naughty antics.
In his book Q: A Voyage Around the Queen, Craig Brown revealed (via Hello! magazine), “Corgis, are, it turns out, an unpredictable, temperamental bunch, one minute cuddly, the next psycho, the Corleones of the dog world.” Brown continued, “Dookie did not restrict his aggression to humans: he would happily attack the dining room chairs at Royal Lodge, the family home in Windsor Great Park.”
Also in his book, Brown shared the hilarious way the late monarch was able to silence her corgis. “Coincidentally, the way to scare off a belligerent corgi is the same as for a belligerent human being: a blast from the bagpipes,” he explained. “Happily, the Queen always kept a set of bagpipes to hand.”
