Queen's 'great sorrow' at death of Ogilvy

Sir Angus Ogilvy, the aristrocratic businessman who married the Queen's cousin but insisted on paying his own mortgage, died yesterday at the age of 76. He succumbed to acute pneumonia after successfully fighting off throat cancer.

Married in 1963 to Princess Alexandria of Kent at a televised ceremony in Westminster Abbey he managed to sustain a largely successful private and public life with few of the embarrassments which later engulfed the royal family.

As the second son of the 12th Earl of Airlie and an equally well-connected mother, Mr Ogilvy was a link between the traditional Eton-and-Guards royal spouse and the post-imperial evolution of the House of Windsor into a more modern form, in which some family members worked for a living.

Sir Angus had a successful early career in the City, and by the time of his wedding had 50 directorships. But his recruitment of Tiny Rowlands as chief executive of the Africa-based Lonrho mining and financial group proved a calamity.

When Lonrho was investigated for sanctions busting during the battle against Ian Smith's illegal regime in what is now Zimbabwe, an official report accused Ogilvy of being negligent, weak and indecisive.

He insisted on resigning all his directorships, and became increasingly devoted to charitable causes. His bitterness remained towards Rowlands. When his daughter Marina eloped with a 19-year-old photographer and got into a series of tabloid scrapes, the family proved more forgiving.

A victim of throat cancer who recovered to resume public duties, Sir Angus was admitted to Kingston hospital near his home in Richmond Park. Buckingham Palace spoke of the Queen's "great sorrow". Martina Milburn, chief executive of the Prince's Trust, said Sir Angus had helped transform the life chances of young people. "His work for the Prince's Trust over the past 20 years has been phenomenal, raising millions of pounds," she said.