Claire Macdonald


Claire, Lady Macdonald OBE is a Scottish cookery writer and former hotelier.

Origins and marriage

Claire Macdonald was one of three daughters of Captain Thomas Noel Catlow CBE DL RN and his wife Jean, and lived as a child in Thurland Castle in Lancashire.
In 1969 she married Godfrey Macdonald, who the following year, on the death of his father, became the 8th Baron Macdonald and High Chief of Clan Donald.

Hotelier

The Macdonald estates on the Isle of Skye had historically been very extensive but the death duties payable on the deaths of Lord Macdonald's grandfather and father necessitated their sale. Lord and Lady Macdonald for the next four decades ran a successful hotel at Kinloch Lodge, a former Macdonald hunting lodge near Isleornsay.

Writer

Cookery books:
Memoirs:
Lifting the lid: a life at Kinloch Lodge, Skye.

Honours and awards

Lady Macdonald is a Patron of Scottish Food Fortnight and The Association of Scottish Farmers’ Markets. She has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. In 2008 she received an honorary doctorate from Abertay University and in 2011, she was given the National Farmers' Union of Scotland’s Ambassador Award. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours List on 31 December 2013.

Family

Lord and Lady Macdonald have four children: