Dame Shan Legge-Bourke, the aristocratic mother of Tiggy Pettifer who served as nanny to Prince William and Prince Harry during their childhood, has died aged 82.
The family announced yesterday that she passed away peacefully at her home, describing themselves as "devastated" by the loss.
In their tribute, they said: "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."
Dame Shan maintained close ties with the Royal Family and served as a lady in waiting to Princess Anne.
Dame Shan Legge-Bourke, the aristocratic mother of Tiggy Pettifer who served as nanny to Prince William and Prince Harry during their childhood, has died aged 82.
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Her family added: "A country girl at heart, she has left an indelible legacy at Glanusk, the wider countryside and beyond."
Dame Shan was born as the daughter of William Bailey, the 3rd Lord Glanusk, and inherited the 18,000-acre Glanusk Estate near Crickhowell on the Welsh border when she was just five years old, following her father's death in 1948.
The sprawling property on the Welsh border became a familiar destination for the young princes William and Harry, who visited regularly during their boyhood years.
The connection between Dame Shan and the Royal Family, already established through friendship, grew considerably stronger when her daughter Tiggy became nanny to the princes.
Dame Shan maintained close ties with the Royal Family and served as a lady in waiting to Princess Anne.
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Tiggy, who worked as a personal assistant to the then Prince of Wales from 1993 to 1999, famously referred to the young royals as "my babies" and brought them to her parents' estate.
Throughout her life, Dame Shan occupied numerous prominent positions in Welsh public affairs.
She served as Lord Lieutenant of Powys and held the position of High Sheriff for the county.
Her leadership extended to chairing the Brecon and Radnor Country and Land Association.
Dame Shan was born as the daughter of William Bailey, the 3rd Lord Glanusk, and inherited the 18,000-acre Glanusk Estate near Crickhowell on the Welsh border when she was just five years old, following her father's death in 1948.
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Dame Shan also dedicated herself to charitable and agricultural causes, serving as President of Save the Children in Wales.
The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society and the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs both benefited from her presidency.
For many decades, she remained at the forefront of public life in mid Wales, becoming a central figure in the region's civic and rural communities.
Dame Shan became renowned for modernising the Glanusk Estate, steering it away from its traditional reliance on farming towards a diversified enterprise encompassing property rentals, wedding venues, shooting events, and latterly the Green Man festival.
Her remarkable hands-on approach was captured in a 2006 BBC Wales four-part documentary entitled Lady of Glanusk, which showed the then 63-year-old mother of three and grandmother of seven cleaning gutters on her roof, preparing pheasants alongside her grandchildren, and tackling electrical repairs.
Her daughter Zara paid tribute to her practical abilities: "She can drive a tractor better than any man I've ever seen and can reverse it through a narrow gap with a trailer on the back of it."
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