Lucy Noël Martha Leslie, Countess of Rothes (née Dyer-Edwardes; 25 December 1878 – 12 September 1956) was a British philanthropist and social leader.

[1] The countess was for many years a popular figure in London society, known for her blonde beauty, bright personality, graceful dancing and diligence in helping organise lavish entertainments patronised by British royalty and members of the nobility.

[2] She was long involved in charity work throughout the United Kingdom, most notably assisting the Red Cross with fundraising and as a nurse for the Coulter Hospital in London during the First World War.

[5] Noël Dyer-Edwardes married Norman Leslie, 19th Earl of Rothes (pronounced "Roth-is") on Primrose Day, 19 April 1900 at St Mary Abbots in Kensington, London.

In addition, she served on the organizing or fundraising committees for such agencies as the Princess Mary Scholarship at Cedars College for Blind Girls, the YMCA Bazaar, The Children's Guild, the Deptford Fund and the Village Clubs Association.

[12] Noël's success as a patroness of philanthropic causes owed to her energetic personality and organizational skills but also to her popularity as a hostess, her beauty, and her friendships with members of the British Royal Family and aristocracy, including H.R.H.

Ball the following year at Edinburgh's Musical Hall, where she danced in a special quadrille reel named for her; and the Coronation Garden Party later in 1911 at Devonshire House where she performed in a minuet that opened the festivity.

Noël handled the tiller of the boat, steering it clear of the sinking liner, and later assisted in rowing it to the rescue ship, all the while encouraging other survivors with her calm decisiveness and optimism.

[16] Her parents disembarked at Cherbourg, while the others continued, en route for New York and possibly Vancouver, British Columbia to meet the Earl of Rothes who was already visiting the U.S. and Canada on business.

Asked by the reporter how she felt about "leaving London society for a California fruit farm," Noël replied, "I am full of joyful expectation.

[19] She took charge of the tiller, steering for over an hour before asking Gladys to take over while she stopped to comfort a young Spanish newlywed, María Josefa Peñasco y Castellana, whose husband was lost in the sinking.

"[21] Noël did not welcome the publicity that proclaimed her a heroine, insisting it was the cool-headed leadership of Seaman Jones and the combined aid of her cousin-in-law and other occupants in the boat that night that deserved praise.

As a token of her esteem, she presented Jones with an inscribed silver pocket watch; she also gave one to Steward Alfred Crawford in recognition for his assistance at the oars, rowing "doggedly for five hours."

[12] In 1918 an exhibition at the Grafton Galleries in London, benefiting the Red Cross, included a pair of pearls from the 300-year-old heirloom necklace Noël wore when she escaped the Titanic.

After Norman Rothes died on March 29, 1927, Noël remarried on 22 December 1927, to Colonel Claud Macfie, DSO, in the courthouse in Chelsea, London.

While Noël and Claud maintained a home in Hove, Sussex, they lived most of the year at the Macfie estate, Fayre Court in Fairford, Gloucestershire.

In her last years Noël was interviewed by author Walter Lord for his account of the Titanic disaster, A Night to Remember, which brought her story to a new generation on its publication in 1955.

She is also mentioned in the first episode of the British TV series Downton Abbey (also produced by Julian Fellowes) as having spent some time with the Crawley family shortly before boarding the Titanic.