Charles Hyde Villiers
Encyclopedia
Sir Charles English Hyde Villiers, MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....

 (14 August 1912 – 22 January 1992) was a British businessman and chairman of British Steel
British Steel
British Steel was a major British steel producer. It originated as a nationalised industry, the British Steel Corporation , formed in 1967. This was converted to a public limited company, British Steel PLC, and privatised in 1988. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...

 from 1976 till 1980.

Villiers was the great-grandson of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon
George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon
George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon KG, GCB, PC , was an English diplomat and statesman.-Background and education:...

. His father, Algernon Hyde Villiers, was killed in action in 1917 during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. His mother, Beatrix Eleanor Paul, was the daughter of Liberal M.P. Herbert Paul
Herbert Paul
Herbert Woodfield Paul was an English writer and Liberal MP.Paul was the eldest son of George Woodfield Paul, Vicar of Finedon, and Jessie Philippa Mackworth. He was educated at Eton College and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he became President of the Oxford Union. He was called to the bar...

, and she later married Walter Durant Gibbs
Walter Gibbs, 4th Baron Aldenham
Captain Walter Durant Gibbs, 4th Baron Aldenham was a British peer, the son of Herbert Cokayne Gibbs, 1st Baron Hunsdon. He succeeded to the title 2nd Baron Hunsdon on 22 May 1935. He succeeded to the title 4th Baron Aldenham on 21 March 1939, on the death of his cousin, the 3rd Baron, who died...

, who later became 4th Baron Aldenham. Villiers was educated at St Cyprian's School
St Cyprian's School
St Cyprian's School was an English preparatory school for boys, which operated in the early 20th century in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Like other preparatory schools, its purpose was to train pupils to do well enough in the examinations to gain admission to leading public schools, and to provide an...

, Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 and New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...

, before joining the Grenadier Guards
Grenadier Guards
The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...

 in 1936. He became Lieutenant-Colonel during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, served with the Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...

 from 1943 to 1945 and was awarded the MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....

.

Villiers was a managing director of Helbert Wagg from 1948, and of J. Henry Schroder Wagg from 1968 to 1971. He was also a director of Courtaulds
Courtaulds
Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals.-Foundation:The Company was founded by George Courtauld and his cousin Peter Taylor in 1794 as a silk, crepe and textile business at Pebmarsh in north Essex trading as George Courtauld & Co...

, Sun Life Assurance and Bass Charrington. He was Chairman of Guinness Mahon
Guinness Mahon
Guinness Mahon was an Irish merchant bank originally based in Dublin but more recently with major operations in London.-History:The firm was founded in Dublin in 1836 by brewer Robert Rundell Guinness, cousin of the brewer Arthur Guinness, and John Ross Mahon, an estate agent. A London office...

 from 1971 to 1976, and Chairman of British Steel from 1976 to 1980. In 1985 he launched the British-American Project
British-American Project
The British-American Project is a fellowship of some 600 leaders and opinion formers from a broad spectrum of occupations, backgrounds and political viewpoints, drawn in equal numbers from the United States and the United Kingdom...

, which promotes Anglo-American ties.

He married firstly Pamela Constance Flower and had two sons and secondly Countess Marie José de la Barre d'Erquelinnes and had two daughters. He was an Officer, Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...

 (O.St.J.), and was decorated with the Order of the People of Yugoslavia in 1970 and Grand Officer, Order of Leopold of Belgium in 1974.
His daughter Diana Villiers Negroponte
Diana Villiers Negroponte
Diana Mary Villiers Negroponte is an English-born American trade lawyer and adjunct professor of law at Fordham University whose professional name is Diana Villiers Negroponte. She is the wife of John Negroponte, the former United States Deputy Secretary of State and former U.S...

 is adjunct professor of law at Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...

. She is married to former Deputy U.S. Secretary of State John Negroponte
John Negroponte
John Dimitri Negroponte is an American diplomat. He is currently a research fellow and lecturer in international affairs at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs...

.
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