The second child of Lord Rosebery, Lady Crewe, before her marriage to the Earl, in 1899, was Lady "Peggy" Primrose. She was born in 1881, and is twenty-three years younger than her husband, whose first wife died in 1887. Despite the disparity in ages, however, the union has proved an ideal one, for Lady Crewe, who is an extremely clever, tactful, and witty woman, has since come to the fore as a political hostess, and proved of great service to her husband in his political work. The late Queen Victoria was very fond of Lady Crewe, and, as a special mark of favour, she and her sister, now Lady Sybil Grant, were privately presented to her Majesty when they made their debut. Lady Crewe's witty sayings were often a source of amusement to her late Majesty. On one occasion at dinner she noticed her father seated between Mrs. Asquith and the late Duchess of Cleveland. "Look at papa," she said, "sitting between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries." Lady Crewe usually stays at Crewe House, Mayfair, during a parliamentary session, but prefers Crewe Hall, the Earl's beautiful Cheshire seat.

The Countess of Crewe