Celia Whitelaw, Viscountess Whitelaw

Celia, Viscountess Whitelaw (1 January 1917 – 5 December 2011) was the wife of William "Willie" Whitelaw, MP, former Home Secretary, Deputy Prime Minister and aide to Margaret Thatcher.

Early life Born as Cecilia Doriel Sprot (she later changed her name to Celia) at her family home, Riddell Estate near Melrose, to Major Mark Sprot of the Scots Guards and his wife, Meliora (née Hay), a daughter of Sir John Hay, 9th Baronet. Among her siblings was the British Army officer Aidan Sprot.

Personal life She was engaged in 1942 and married William "Willie" Whitelaw in St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, on 6 February 1943. Willie was a son of William Alexander Whitelaw, a member of a Scottish family of the landed gentry, who died when he was still a baby, and Helen Russell, a daughter of Major-General Francis Russell of Aden.

Hon. Elizabeth Susan Whitelaw (b. 1944), who married Nicholas Cunliffe-Lister, 3rd Earl of Swinton, in 1966. Hon. Pamela Winifred Whitelaw (b. 1951), who married Malise Charles Richard Graham, son of Maj. Sir Charles Graham, 6th Baronet, in 1974. Viscountess Whitelaw died in Edinburgh on 5 December 2011, aged 94. She was buried with her husband at St Andrew's Church, Dacre.