After a whirlwind romance, they were married on 1 July 1969 in the gloomy village church of King Herod the Great on the Crabtree family estate at Cleghorn St Percy, North Yorkshire.
If he had died just a day earlier, Lady Crabtree would not have been deprived of a seat at the Queen's Silver Jubilee Service in St Paul's Cathedral and she harbours a suspicion that he lingered deliberately just to spite her.
A highlight of her early married life was entertaining Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at a Swine Breeders' dinner at Crabtree Hall, which greatly improved Lady C's standing as a society hostess.
After publishing extracts from the Queen's diaries and letters in the misguided belief that she was doing Her Majesty a favour, Lady Crabtree unexpectedly found that her services were no longer required.
With humour ideally suited to the over-fifties, current talks include "How To Grown Old Disgracefully" and "Glad To Be Grey" In 2018 Lady Crabtree will celebrate 40 years in public life.