Neil Primrose, 7th Earl Of Rosebery

Neil Archibald Primrose, 7th Earl of Rosebery, 3rd Earl of Midlothian, DL, was born on 11 February 1929 and died on 30 June 2024. He was a Scottish nobleman and a member of the House of Lords from 1974 until 1999.

He was the only surviving son of Harry, Earl of Rosebery. His paternal grandfather was Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1894 to 1895. His paternal grandmother was Hannah, Countess of Rosebery, daughter of Mayer de Rothschild, who was considered the wealthiest woman in England in the late 19th century.

Following the death of his older half-brother Ronald in 1931, Primrose became the heir apparent to his father and was styled as Lord Primrose. The courtesy title Lord Dalmeny was reserved out of respect for his late elder brother.

During World War II, he received education at Sandroyd School. He was subsequently evacuated to the United States, where he attended Millbrook School in Millbrook, New York. William F. Buckley Jr., a notable writer who attended the same school at the same time, remarked in a 1981 magazine article that the young Lord Primrose was an "uncontrollable 'brat'."

He later continued his education at Stowe School and at New College, Oxford. In 1955, he married Alison Mary Deirdre Reid.

In 1960, he was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Midlothian. He succeeded his father as the Earl of Rosebery in 1974. He resided at Dalmeny House, near Edinburgh, with his wife.

Neil Primrose and Alison Reid had five children: four daughters and one son. Their son, Harry, who bore the courtesy title Lord Dalmeny until succeeding to the family titles, became the 8th Earl of Rosebery.

The Countess of Rosebery is noted as a patroness of the Royal Caledonian Ball.

Neil Archibald Primrose, 7th Earl of Rosebery, passed away at the age of 95 on 30 June 2024.