Sarah Troughton

Troughton was born in London. She is the eldest of the five children of Sir Timothy Colman KG, a past Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk,[1][2] and Lady Mary Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, a granddaughter of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Her maternal grandfather was a brother of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, so that she is a second cousin once removed of the present Earl of Strathmore and a first cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II.[1] Her ancestor Jeremiah Colman (1777–1851) made a fortune from Colman's mustard, a business which eventually grew into Reckitt & Colman, of which her father was a director until 1989.[2]

From 1990 to 2000, Troughton was lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Kent.[3]

Living at Wanborough, near Swindon,[4] she became a trustee of the Community Foundation for Wiltshire and Swindon, a role in which she still serves, and is also President of Community First/Youth Action Wiltshire.[5] She became a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire in 2006.[4] In December 2011, with effect from February 2012, she was promoted to the Lord Lieutenancy.[5] Charles Petty-Fitzmaurice, 9th Marquess of Lansdowne, was her Vice-Lord-Lieutenant until 2016, and William Wyldbore-Smith now has that role.[6] In 2011, she was chairman of the Chelsea Physic Garden,[5] but retired from that role in 2020.[6]

As Lord Lieutenant, Troughton's public duties include overseeing arrangements for visits to Wiltshire by members of the Royal Family and escorting royal visitors; representing the King at events and presenting awards and medals on his behalf; liaising with the Wiltshire units of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force; leading the local magistracy as chairman of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace; and advising on nominations for national honours.

In January 2013, Troughton was made a Commander of the Order of St John by the Queen,[7] and raised to Dame of the order in 2021.[8]

In 2022, she was one of the first six women appointed as "Queen's companions" (replacing the traditional ladies-in-waiting) to Queen Camilla.[9] A BBC News article described Troughton as one of Camilla's longstanding personal friends.[9]

In 1977 she married Peter Troughton (born 1948), a member of HM Diplomatic Service, [10] and the eldest son of Sir Charles Troughton, chairman of W H Smith.[11] They have a son and two daughters.[12] Her grandson, Nicholas Barclay, son of her daughter Rose, was a page of honour at the coronation of King Charles III.[13] Her husband was later a director of the Lowland Investment Company PLC in the City of London,[14] a trustee of the Royal Collection and Pro-Chancellor of the University of Bath. He is now a trustee of the Rothschild Foundation and a member of the Salisbury Diocesan Board of Finance.[6]