Marguerite, Baroness de Reuter
Marguerite, Baroness de Reuter (July 14, 1912 – January 25, 2009) was a European aristocrat, who was the last survivor of the family which founded the Reuters news service.[1]
Marguerite was the widow of Oliver, 4th Baron de Reuter, whose grandfather, Paul Julius Reuter, established the Reuters news service in London in 1851.[1] Paul Julius Reuter, a Jew who settled in the United Kingdom and converted to Christianity, had previously begun his career in journalism in Aachen, Germany, using carrier pigeons and telegraphs.[1]
Marguerite was born on July 14, 1912.[1] She was the daughter of George Uehlinger of Neunkirch, Switzerland.[1] Marguerite was a widow for the last 40 years of her life.[1] A patron of the arts, Marguerite was a champion of her family links with Reuters, and of her British citizenship, which she acquired through marriage to her late husband, Oliver, 4th Baron de Reuter.[1] She and her husband had no children.
Her personal interests, especially in the arts, continued well into her older years. She actively continued to ski until her 70s.[1] She was known to be fluent in several languages.[1] Her hobbies included bridge, as well as attending opera and ballet.[1]
Marguerite suffered from a series of successive strokes late in 2008.[1] She died on Sunday, January 25, 2009, at a French nursing home near the border with Monaco at the age of 96.[1]
The title she bore was created on September 7, 1871, when the German Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha conferred a barony (Freiherr) on Julius Reuter, her grandfather-in-law.The title was later confirmed by Queen Victoria as conferring the privileges of the nobility in England. The title became extinct upon the death of her husband, the 4th Baron de Reuter, who left no heir.
Tom Glocer, the chief executive of Thomson Reuters at that time, released a statement upon Marguerite's death saying, "Although the founding family of Reuters were no longer significant shareholders in the company, the baroness did notably attend a service at St Bride's Church, London, to mark Reuters' historic move from Fleet Street to Canary Wharf in 2005."[1]
Reuters New Agency moved out of its headquarters on Fleet Street in 2005. The company became part of Thomson Reuters plc in 2008.[1]