Queen’s cousin faces imprisonment for a violent sex attack on a guest in his ancestral home.

Simon Bowes-Lyon, the current Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, has admitted a charge of sexually assaulting the woman at Dundee Crown Court yesterday.

The Queen’s cousin is likely to face up to 5 years in jail for the attack. The aristocrat was granted bail yesterday and placed on the sex offenders register as his sentence was deferred for reports.

According to the international news agency, Bowes-Lyon, 34, entered the woman’s bedroom while she was sleeping during an event he was hosting at Glamis Castle – the childhood home of the Queen Mother.

He was reportedly drunk. He repeatedly grabbed the victim and insisted that he wanted to have an affair with her. The sexual assault lasted for more than 20 minutes.

He has reportedly tried to take off the victim’s dress and pushed her against a wall.

He has also reportedly called the victim “rude, mean, bad and horrible person” when she rejected. He is said to have told her she could not tell him what to do in his own home.

Fiscal depute Lynne Mannion said: ‘She was asleep and was woken by knocking at the door.’

She said Bowes-Lyon, a great-great-nephew of the Queen Mother, told the woman: ‘It’s Sam. It’s important. Please let me in.

‘She thought something was wrong so she got up. It was pitch black. The second she opened the door he pushed his way in and pushed her onto the bed.

‘He was very drunk and smelled of cigarettes. He told her he wanted to have an affair. He tried to pull her nightdress up.

‘She went into the en suite to get away but the accused followed her, stopped her closing the door, and lit a cigarette. She squeezed past and went back to the bedroom.’

However, the girl managed to escape from the room. She sent messages asking other guests for help.