Clare Nancy Russell CVO was Lord-Lieutenant of Banffshire from 2002 to 2019.  She was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for her services as Lord-Lieutenant.

Clare is the only daughter of Major Sir Ewan George Macpherson-Grant, 6th and last Baronet of Ballindalloch and his wife Evelyn Nancy Stopford Dickin.  She married Oliver Henry Russell in 1967.  They have three children: Guy, who has taken the name of Macpherson Grant of Ballindalloch, Edward and Lucy.

Clare inherited Ballindalloch Castle and its estate in 198, becoming the Lady Laird of Ballindalloch.  She was Chair of Queen Mary's Clothing Guild (Scotland) and served on the board of the Children's Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS) for six years. She has also been involved with the Moray Health Council, the National Trust for Scotland, and the Scotland Garden Scheme.

In 1991, she was appointed Deputy Lieutenant for Banffshire, becoming Vice Lord Lieutenant in 1998. She succeeded James A.S. McPherson as Lord-Lieutenant in 2002, becoming Banffshire's first lady Lord-Lieutenant.

Clare has been a champion of the historic county of Banffshire, which ceased to be an administrative area in 1975. She led a campaign to have road signs marking the historic county's boundaries reinstated in 2008.

As Clare Macpherson-Grant Russell, she has published three immensely popular cookery books, "I Love Food" and "I Love Food 2" and "I Love Food 3", as well as a photobook "I Love Banffshire".

Click the image below for Clare's book website.