Royal Households of the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
The Royal Households of the United Kingdom are the organised offices and support systems for the British Royal Family
, along with their immediate (royal) families. Alongside The Royal Household, which supports the Sovereign, each member of the Royal Family who undertakes public duties has his own separate Household-—these vary considerably in size, from fewer than 10 staff shared by The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, to the Household of the Prince of Wales, which is traditionally the largest Household beside The Household. These Households are all separate from The Royal Household, and are funded from the Civil List annuities paid to their respective masters for their public duties, all of which are reimbursed to HM Treasury
by The Queen.
The Royal Household is a permanent establishment of relatively unchanging size and composition, the Households of other members of the Royal Family vary in size depending upon their age and their social and political role—the Household of the Prince of Wales is invariably the largest when the Prince is an adult actively involved in royal duties, and other Households are comparatively modest.
(The Rt Hon The Earl Peel
GCVO
PC DL
since 12 October 2006), and organised into a number of functionally separate units.
(The Rt Hon
Sir
Christopher Geidt
KCVO
OBE
since 8 September 2007), under whom works the Private Secretary's Office, but who also has control of the Press Office, the Queen's Archives, and the Defence Services Secretary
's Office. He serves as principal advisor to the Sovereign and the principal channel of communication between the Sovereign and his or her Governments. Besides these, he also manages the Sovereign's official programme and correspondence
The Keeper of the Privy Purse
has responsibility for the Sovereign's personal finances and those to do with semi-private concerns, along with, as Treasurer to the Queen oversight of the civil list
. The two positions are held together and, since 2002, they have both been held by Sir Alan Reid
KCVO
The Master of the Household
, since 2005, has been AVM
Sir
David Walker
OBE MVO FRAeS
, who has overall responsibility for the domestic workings of the Household.
The Lord Chamberlain's Office
, led by its Comptroller
(since 2006, Lt Col Andrew Ford
), is responsible for official royal occasions.
The Royal Collection
is overseen by its Director
(since May 2010, Jonathan Marsden LVO).
Each of these Heads of Department reports to the Lord Chamberlain, and is a member of the Lord Chamberlain's Committee.
, Ecclesiastical Household
, and Medical Household
are functionally separate but for accounting purposes are the responsibility of the Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to the Queen.
The Lord Steward
is notionally responsible for the Department of Master of the Household
, but only has a ceremonial role. The Master of the Horse
is in a similar position, being nominally in charge of the Royal Mews
.
The Crown Equerry
has day to day operation of the Royal Mews
, but is part of the Lord Chamberlain's Office. The Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood
is also under the Lord Chamberlain's Office, as is the office of the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps
.
The College of Arms
has been a branch of the Royal Household since its incorporation in 1484 by King Richard III
. The College is a corporation of thirteen royal herald
s, overseen by the Earl Marshal
, a hereditary office held by the Duke of Norfolk
. The College is self-supporting and receives no funds from the Crown. The College holds jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to heraldry
, genealogy
and pedigree
s in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and in some Commonwealth realms. The officers of the College accompany the Queen on two State occasions per year: the State Opening of Parliament and the Garter Service. They also assisted in the organisation of many royal ceremonial occasion such as the coronation and state funerals.
Certain independent, and normally honorific, posts include Master of the Queen's Music
, Poet Laureate
, and Astronomer Royal
. The Queen's Bargemaster
, Warden of the Swans
, and Marker of the Swans
, perform more prosaic and less celebrated functions.
Technically members of the Household, the offices of Treasurer of the Household
, Comptroller of the Household
and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
are held by senior government whips
in the House of Commons. In the House of Lords, the Government Chief Whip is usually appointed Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms
and the Deputy Chief Whip as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
, with junior whips appointed as Lords-in-Waiting
or Baronesses-in-Waiting. Occasionally these officers are called upon to undertake Household duties, especially the Vice-Chamberlain, who is responsible for writing regular parliamentary reports for the Queen.
The royal residences (see list of British Royal Residences) in current use are cared for and maintained by the Royal Household Property Section directly from the grant-in-aid
provided by Parliament
, whereas Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House are privately owned and maintained. The unoccupied royal residences (including the Tower of London) are run by the Historic Royal Palaces
Agency, which is self-funding.
The UK Royal Household is separated into two separate parts, one for England and one for Scotland.
hood", and among the most eminent and powerful of the king's thegn
s were his "dishthegn," his "bowerthegn," and his horsethegn or staller. In Normandy at the time of the Conquest
a similar arrangement, imitated from the French court, had long been established, and the Norman dukes, like their overlords the kings of France, had their seneschal or steward, their chamberlain and their constable. After the Norman Conquest, the ducal household of Normandy
was reproduced in the royal household of England; and since, in obedience to the spirit of feudalism
, the great offices of the first had been made hereditary, the great offices of the second were made hereditary also, and were thenceforth held by the grantees and their descendants as holder of tenure in grand serjeanty
of the crown.
The consequence was that they passed out of immediate relation to the practical conduct of affairs either in both state and court or in the one or the other of them. The steward and Lord High Chamberlain
of England were superseded in their political functions by the Justiciar
and Treasurer of England
, and in their domestic functions by the Lord Steward
and Lord Chamberlain
of the household. The marshal of England took the place of the constable of England in the royal palace, and was associated with him in the command of the royal armies.
In due course, however, the marshalship as well as the constableship became hereditary, and, although the Constable
and Earl Marshal
of England retained their military authority until a comparatively late period, the duties they had performed about the palace had been long before transferred to the master of the horse. In these circumstances the holders of the original great offices of state and the household ceased to attend the court except on occasions of extraordinary ceremony, and their representatives either by inheritance or by special appointment have ever since continued to appear at coronations
and some other public solemnities, such as the State Opening of Parliament
or trials by the House of Lords.
The earliest record relating to the English royal household is of the reign of Henry II
and is contained in the Black Book of the Exchequer. It enumerates the various inmates of the king's palace and the daily allowances made to them at the period at which it was compiled. It affords evidence of the antiquity and relative importance of the court offices to which it refers, though it is silent as to the functions and formal subordination of the persons who filled them. In addition to this record, there are more recent but (for the most part) equally meagre, documents bearing on the constitution of the royal household, and extending, with long intervals, from the reign of Edward III
to the reign of William and Mary
. Among them, however, are what are known as the Black Book of the Household and the Statutes of Eltham, the first compiled in the reign of Edward IV
and the second in the reign of Henry VIII
from which a good deal of detailed information is available concerning the arrangements of the court in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The Statutes of Eltham were meant for the practical guidance of those who were responsible for the good order and the sufficient supply of the sovereign's household at the time they were issued. The great officers of state and the household whom we have particularly mentioned do not of course exhaust the catalogue of them. We have named those only whose representatives are still dignitaries of the court and functionaries of the palace. If the reader consults Hallam
(Middle Ages, i. 181 seq.), Freeman
(Norman Conquest, i. 91 seq., and v. 426 seq.) and Stubbs
(Const. Hist. i. 343, seq.), he will be able himself to fill in the details of the outline we have given above.
But the Black Book of the Household, besides being a sort of treatise on princely magnificence generally, professes to be based on the regulations established for the governance of the court by Edward III, who, it affirms, was "the first setter of among his , upon a grounded rule" and whose palace it describes as "the house of very and of England"; and it may therefore possibly, and even probably, take us back to a period much more remote than that at which it was actually put together.
Various orders, returns and accounts of the reigns of Elizabeth
, James I
, Charles I
, Charles II
, and William and Mary throw considerable light on the organization of particular sections of the royal household in times nearer to our own. Moreover, there were several parliamentary inquiries into the expenses of the royal household in connexion
with the settlement or reform of the civil list
during the reigns of George III
, George IV
and William IV
. But they add little or nothing to our knowledge of the subject in what was then its historical as distinguished from its contemporary aspects. So much, indeed, is this the case that, on the accession of Queen Victoria
, Chamberlayne
's Present State of England, which contains a catalogue of the officials at the court of Queen Anne
, was described by Lord Melbourne the prime minister
as the "only authority" which the advisers of the crown could find for their assistance in determining the appropriate constitution and dimensions of the domestic establishment of a queen regnant
.
In its main outlines the existing organization of the royal household is essentially the same as it was under the Tudors or the Plantagenets. It is divided into three principal departments, at the head of which are the lord steward, the lord chamberlain and the master of the horse, and the respective provinces of which may be generally described as "below stairs," "above stairs" and "out of doors." The duties of these officials, and the various officers under their charge are dealt with in the articles under those headings. When the reigning sovereign is a queen, the royal household is in some other respects rather differently arranged from that of a king and a queen consort.
When there is a king and a queen consort there is a separate establishment "above stairs" and "out of doors" for the queen consort. She has a Lord Chamberlain
's department of her own, and all the ladies of the court from the Mistress of the Robes
to the Maids of Honour are in her service. At the commencement of the reign of Queen Victoria the two establishments were combined, and on the whole considerably reduced. On the accession of Edward VII
the civil list
was again reconstituted; and while the household of the king and his consort became larger than during the previous reign, there was a tendency towards increased efficiency by abolishing certain offices which were either redundant or unnecessary.
The Great Officers of the Royal Household are:
The Royal Household in Scotland also includes a number of other hereditary and non-hereditary offices:
The Keeper of Dumbarton Castle
and the Governor of Edinburgh Castle
are non-hereditary offices.
. It is based at Buckingham Palace
, and is headed by his Private Secretary
— the Treasurer
(part-time 1970-1976) was formerly the senior officer, but this post is now vacant. There are also an Equerry
(a major
or equivalent from any of the three armed services), and two temporary equerries (usually a Captain
from the Royal Marines
, and a Captain from the Grenadier Guards
).
and The Duchess of Cornwall is the organised office and support system for His Royal Highness
The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales
, in his role as heir apparent
to the thrones of the United Kingdom
and the other Commonwealth realm
s, and for his consort Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall. At the time of their 2009 Annual Review the Office of the Prince of Wales had the full-time equivalent of 121 staff. The head of the Household is the Principal Private Secretary
, William Nye. Senior officials include the Private Secretary, Mark Leishman; the Master of the Household
, Wg Cdr
Richard Pattle; the Treasurer
, Leslie Ferrar
; Communications Secretary, Patrick Harverson
and Press Secretary, Patrick Harrison; the Director of The Prince's Charities
, Sir Tom Shebbeare
KCVO; and the Equerry
, Maj Will Mackinlay.
In 2000 an Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales
was appointed. The first holder of the office was Miss Catrin Finch
. The Prince of Wales revived a tradition of having Welsh harpists by appointing Ms Finch. She was the first to receive a similar post since one was last granted in 1871 by Queen Victoria
to John Thomas. In 2004 Catrin Finch was replaced by Miss Jemima Phillips, who in turn was replaced by Miss Claire Jones in 2007.
The Prince of Wales' Office is principally based at Clarence House
, London
, but also occupies rooms in the rest of St James's Palace. There are also offices for official staff at Highgrove House and Birkhall House, The Prince of Wales
's private residences. In November 2006, The Prince of Wales bought his first home in Wales
, the Llwynywormwood estate near Llandovery
, Carmarthenshire
, which he plans to use when he and The Duchess of Cornwall are visiting the country. The estate consists of an ex-coachhouse and is set in almost 200 acre (0.809372 km²) of rolling parkland
Most of the expenses incurred in operating the office comes from The Prince of Wales's private appanage, the Duchy of Cornwall
. The only significant costs met by grant-in-aid
provided by the Government is for the upkeep of Clarence House
, and for official travel by air and rail, and for communications support.
Details of The Prince's Senior Staff are available in his Office's Annual Reports. The following titles all have "to/of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall" suffixed when written in full. Prior to the Prince's 2005 marriage, they were instead suffixed "to/of The Prince of Wales".
(James Lowther-Pinkerton
MVO MBE
Irish Guards
(Rtd.)) was appointed in the Household of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in May 2005. In January 2009, a separate Household of HRH Prince William of Wales and HRH Prince Henry of Wales was established, headed by Lowther-Pinkerton. Following Prince William's marriage, the Household also additionally serves his wife. The Household's offices are in St James's Palace; it shares funding and much of its staff with Clarence House. The Household is also called the Household of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, and as of 2011, has the equivalent of 7.8 full-time staff.
It was announced in June 2011 that TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will temporarily move their official London residence to an apartment in Kensington Palace
, a move that was completed in August of that year. The Duke and Duchess' primary residence will continue to be the island of Anglesey
in Wales
, where the Duke serves as a RAF
search and rescue pilot. The couple previously shared an apartment at Clarence House with Prince Harry, which Prince Harry will retain. On November 6, 2011, it was announced that the Duke, Duchess and Prince Harry, along with the Queen and the Prince of Wales, have approved a plan that will have the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge permanently move to a larger apartment in Kensington Palace. This apartment was previously occupied by the Queen's sister, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
and her husband Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon
after their marriage in 1960. The apartment was retained by Princess Margaret after her divorce in 1978 and was her London residence until her death in 2002. The move will not occur until 2013 to allow for extensive renovations, including electrical and plumbing work as well as asbestos abatement
. Once the Duke and Duchess move into their new apartment, Prince Harry will move his official residence from Clarence House to Duke and Duchess' current apartment. In addition, once the move is complete, it is expected that their official household will also move to Kensington Palace from St James's Palace, although it is not known if the household will be split or remain shared. Until 2013, their Household will remain based at St James's Palace and will continue to be shared.
provides the administrative support for His Royal Highness The Duke of York
in his royal duties, along with his immediate family. From 1971 the Duke of York
, then The Prince Andrew (aged 11 years), had the assistance of one of The Queen's Equerries
when required. The first was Sqn Ldr Peter Beer
, who served until he was replaced by Maj George Broke
Royal Artillery
in 1974, and Lt Cdr Robert Guy RN in 1977.
It was only with the appointment in 1980 of Sqn Ldr Adam Wise
, that the Prince could be said to have acquired the assistance of his own staff — although he was still shared with The Queen and The Prince Edward
. In 1983, Wise was promoted to Wing Commander
and appointed Private Secretary to The Princes Andrew and Edward, severing his link with The Royal Household. He left the Duke of York's service in 1987, when Lt Col Sean O'Dwyer
was appointed — also jointly with Prince Edward.
The Duke of York is now assisted by a Private Secretary, Deputy Private Secretary, Assistant Private Secretary and Equerry
. There are also an Office Assistant, and a handful of personal staff including cook and butler
. The Duke of York's Office is currently based at Buckingham Palace
, and the Duke has a residence at The Royal Lodge
, Windsor
, into which he moved during 2004, from Sunninghill Park
, Ascot
.
and Countess of Wessex provides the administrative support to His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex
, youngest son of The Queen, and to his wife Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex. While their private residence is Bagshot Park
; their office, headed by the Private Secretary
, is based at Buckingham Palace
.
provides the administrative support to Her Royal Highness
The Princess Royal
, second child and only daughter of The Queen. While the Princess Royal's private residence is Gatcombe Park
; her official London residence and office, headed by the Private Secretary
, is based at St James's Palace.
's Household
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
, along with their immediate (royal) families. Alongside The Royal Household, which supports the Sovereign, each member of the Royal Family who undertakes public duties has his own separate Household-—these vary considerably in size, from fewer than 10 staff shared by The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, to the Household of the Prince of Wales, which is traditionally the largest Household beside The Household. These Households are all separate from The Royal Household, and are funded from the Civil List annuities paid to their respective masters for their public duties, all of which are reimbursed to HM Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...
by The Queen.
The Royal Household is a permanent establishment of relatively unchanging size and composition, the Households of other members of the Royal Family vary in size depending upon their age and their social and political role—the Household of the Prince of Wales is invariably the largest when the Prince is an adult actively involved in royal duties, and other Households are comparatively modest.
The Royal Household
As presently arranged, the Royal Household is coordinated by the part-time Lord ChamberlainLord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
(The Rt Hon The Earl Peel
William Peel, 3rd Earl Peel
William James Robert Peel, 3rd Earl Peel GCVO, PC, DL , styled Viscount Clanfield until 1969, is a cross-bench member of the House of Lords and Lord Chamberlain of the Royal Household.-Background and education:...
GCVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
PC DL
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
since 12 October 2006), and organised into a number of functionally separate units.
Heads of Departments
The Private Secretary to the SovereignPrivate Secretary to the Sovereign
The Private Secretary to the Sovereign is the senior operational member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, as distinct from the Great Officers of the Household. The Private Secretary is the principal channel of communication with Her Majesty's Government and the...
(The Rt Hon
The Right Honourable
The Right Honourable is an honorific prefix that is traditionally applied to certain people in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Anglophone Caribbean and other Commonwealth Realms, and occasionally elsewhere...
Sir
Sir
Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...
Christopher Geidt
Christopher Geidt
Sir Christopher Edward Wollaston MacKenzie Geidt, KCVO, OBE is currently the Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II.Geidt joined the Royal Household in 2002 after serving with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the United Nations in Sarajevo, Geneva, and Brussels...
KCVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
since 8 September 2007), under whom works the Private Secretary's Office, but who also has control of the Press Office, the Queen's Archives, and the Defence Services Secretary
Defence Services Secretary
The Defence Services Secretary is a senior member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Reporting to the Private Secretary's Office, he is responsible for liaison between the Sovereign and the British Armed Forces...
's Office. He serves as principal advisor to the Sovereign and the principal channel of communication between the Sovereign and his or her Governments. Besides these, he also manages the Sovereign's official programme and correspondence
The Keeper of the Privy Purse
Keeper of the Privy Purse
The Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to the King/Queen is responsible for the financial management of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom....
has responsibility for the Sovereign's personal finances and those to do with semi-private concerns, along with, as Treasurer to the Queen oversight of the civil list
Civil list
-United Kingdom:In the United Kingdom, the Civil List is the name given to the annual grant that covers some expenses associated with the Sovereign performing their official duties, including those for staff salaries, State Visits, public engagements, ceremonial functions and the upkeep of the...
. The two positions are held together and, since 2002, they have both been held by Sir Alan Reid
Alan Reid (Royal Household)
Sir Alan Reid, KCVO has been Keeper of the Privy Purse, Treasurer to the Queen and Receiver General to the Duchy of Lancaster in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom since 2002. As Keeper of the Privy Purse, he is responsible for the expenditure of public funds voted by the...
KCVO
The Master of the Household
Master of the Household
The Master of the Household is the operational head of the "below stairs" elements of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom...
, since 2005, has been AVM
Air Vice-Marshal
Air vice-marshal is a two-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in...
Sir
Sir
Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...
David Walker
David Allan Walker
Air Marshal Sir David Allan Walker, KCVO OBE is a former senior RAF officer and current Master of the Household of the Royal Household.-Career:...
OBE MVO FRAeS
Royal Aeronautical Society
The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a multidisciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community.-Function:...
, who has overall responsibility for the domestic workings of the Household.
The Lord Chamberlain's Office
Lord Chamberlain's Office
The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department within the British Royal Household. It is presently concerned with matters such as protocol, state visits, investitures, garden parties, the State Opening of Parliament, royal weddings and funerals. For example, in April 2005 it organised the wedding of...
, led by its Comptroller
Comptroller
A comptroller is a management level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization.In British government, the Comptroller General or Comptroller and Auditor General is in most countries the external auditor of the budget execution of the...
(since 2006, Lt Col Andrew Ford
Andrew Ford (Royal Household)
Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Charles Ford, is a retired Guards officer of the British Army, now holding the office of Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office, in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, from 6 January 2006....
), is responsible for official royal occasions.
The Royal Collection
Royal Collection
The Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal Family. It is property of the monarch as sovereign, but is held in trust for her successors and the nation. It contains over 7,000 paintings, 40,000 watercolours and drawings, and about 150,000 old master prints, as well as historical...
is overseen by its Director
Director of the Royal Collection
The Director of the Royal Collection is head of the Royal Collection Department of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The post was relatively new, having been established only in 1987.-List of Directors of the Royal Collection:...
(since May 2010, Jonathan Marsden LVO).
Each of these Heads of Department reports to the Lord Chamberlain, and is a member of the Lord Chamberlain's Committee.
Other units
The Royal AlmonryRoyal Almonry
The Royal Almonry is a small office within the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, headed by the Lord High Almoner, an office dating from 1103. The almoner is responsible for distributing alms to the poor....
, Ecclesiastical Household
Ecclesiastical Household
The Ecclesiastical Household is a part of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Reflecting the different constitutions of the Churches of England and of Scotland, there are separate Ecclesiastical Households in each nation.-England:...
, and Medical Household
Medical Household
The Medical Household is the medical part of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom.It mainly comprises a range of Physicians and Surgeons to the Sovereign and to the Royal Household...
are functionally separate but for accounting purposes are the responsibility of the Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to the Queen.
The Lord Steward
Lord Steward
The Lord Steward or Lord Steward of the Household, in England, is an important official of the Royal Household. He is always a peer. Until 1924, he was always a member of the Government...
is notionally responsible for the Department of Master of the Household
Master of the Household
The Master of the Household is the operational head of the "below stairs" elements of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom...
, but only has a ceremonial role. The Master of the Horse
Master of the Horse
The Master of the Horse was a position of varying importance in several European nations.-Magister Equitum :...
is in a similar position, being nominally in charge of the Royal Mews
Royal Mews
A Royal Mews is a mews of the British Royal Family. In London the Royal Mews has occupied two main sites, formerly at Charing Cross, and since the 1820s at Buckingham Palace....
.
The Crown Equerry
Crown Equerry
The Crown Equerry is the operational head of the Royal Mews of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. He is responsible for the provision of vehicular transport for the Sovereign, both cars and horse-drawn carriages...
has day to day operation of the Royal Mews
Royal Mews
A Royal Mews is a mews of the British Royal Family. In London the Royal Mews has occupied two main sites, formerly at Charing Cross, and since the 1820s at Buckingham Palace....
, but is part of the Lord Chamberlain's Office. The Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood
Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood
The Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood is a small office within the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom responsible for the administration of Orders of Chivalry and some aspects of honours in general...
is also under the Lord Chamberlain's Office, as is the office of the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps
Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps
Her Majesty's Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps is a senior member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. He is the Queen's link with the diplomatic community in London, arranges the annual Diplomatic Corps Reception by the Sovereign, organises the regular presentation of...
.
The College of Arms
College of Arms
The College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
has been a branch of the Royal Household since its incorporation in 1484 by King Richard III
Richard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...
. The College is a corporation of thirteen royal herald
Herald
A herald, or, more correctly, a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is often applied erroneously to all officers of arms....
s, overseen by the Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England...
, a hereditary office held by the Duke of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk
The Duke of Norfolk is the premier duke in the peerage of England, and also, as Earl of Arundel, the premier earl. The Duke of Norfolk is, moreover, the Earl Marshal and hereditary Marshal of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the...
. The College is self-supporting and receives no funds from the Crown. The College holds jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
, genealogy
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
and pedigree
Pedigree
Pedigree can refer to the lineage or genealogical descent of people, whether documented or not, or of animals, whether purebred or not. This can include:-Concepts and documents:...
s in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and in some Commonwealth realms. The officers of the College accompany the Queen on two State occasions per year: the State Opening of Parliament and the Garter Service. They also assisted in the organisation of many royal ceremonial occasion such as the coronation and state funerals.
Certain independent, and normally honorific, posts include Master of the Queen's Music
Master of the Queen's Music
Master of the Queen's Music is a post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The holder of the post originally served the monarch of England.The post is roughly comparable to that of Poet Laureate...
, Poet Laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
, and Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the second is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834....
. The Queen's Bargemaster
Queen's Bargemaster
The King's/Queen's Bargemaster is a subordinate officer of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Until the mid-19th century, the Royal family frequently used the River Thames for, but the role is now largely ceremonial...
, Warden of the Swans
Warden of the Swans
The Warden of the Swans is a new office in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, created in 1993 when the ancient post of Keeper of the Kings Swans was divided into two new posts...
, and Marker of the Swans
Marker of the Swans
Marker of the Swans, or Swan Marker, is an office in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom.-History:The role was created in 1993 when the ancient post of Keeper of the Kings Swans was replaced by two new posts; the other being the Warden of the Swans.-Role of the marker:The...
, perform more prosaic and less celebrated functions.
Technically members of the Household, the offices of Treasurer of the Household
Treasurer of the Household
The position of Treasurer of the Household is theoretically held by a household official of the British monarch, under control of the Lord Steward's Department, but is, in fact, a political office held by one of the government's Deputy Chief Whips in the House of Commons...
, Comptroller of the Household
Comptroller of the Household
The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the English royal household, currently the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department, and often a cabinet member. He was an ex officio member of the Board of Green Cloth, until that body was abolished in the reform of the local...
and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
The Vice-Chamberlain of the Household is usually a junior government whip in the British House of Commons and is an officer of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. He or she is the Deputy to the Lord Chamberlain of the Household. The Vice-Chamberlain's main role is to compile...
are held by senior government whips
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
in the House of Commons. In the House of Lords, the Government Chief Whip is usually appointed Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms
Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms
The Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms is a UK government post since 1945 held by the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords. Prior to 17 March 1834, the Gentlemen-at-Arms were known as the Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners....
and the Deputy Chief Whip as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
The Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard is a UK government post usually held by the Government Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords...
, with junior whips appointed as Lords-in-Waiting
Lord-in-Waiting
Most Lords in Waiting are Government whips in the House of Lords who are members of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. As members of the Royal Household their duties are nominal, though they are occasionally required to meet visiting political and state leaders on visits...
or Baronesses-in-Waiting. Occasionally these officers are called upon to undertake Household duties, especially the Vice-Chamberlain, who is responsible for writing regular parliamentary reports for the Queen.
The royal residences (see list of British Royal Residences) in current use are cared for and maintained by the Royal Household Property Section directly from the grant-in-aid
Grant-in-aid
A grant-in-aid is money coming from central government for a specific project. This kind of funding is usually used when the government and parliament have decided that the recipient should be publicly funded but operate with reasonable independence from the state.In the United Kingdom, most bodies...
provided by Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, whereas Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House are privately owned and maintained. The unoccupied royal residences (including the Tower of London) are run by the Historic Royal Palaces
Historic Royal Palaces
Historic Royal Palaces is an independent charity created in 1998 to manage Britain's unoccupied royal palaces. These are:* The Tower of London* Hampton Court Palace* Kensington Palace - the state rooms only.* Banqueting House* Kew Palace...
Agency, which is self-funding.
The UK Royal Household is separated into two separate parts, one for England and one for Scotland.
England and Wales
The sovereign's domestics were his officers of state, and the leading dignitaries of the palace were the principal administrators of the kingdom. The royal household itself had, in its turn, grown out of an earlier and more primitive "thegnThegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
hood", and among the most eminent and powerful of the king's thegn
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
s were his "dishthegn," his "bowerthegn," and his horsethegn or staller. In Normandy at the time of the Conquest
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
a similar arrangement, imitated from the French court, had long been established, and the Norman dukes, like their overlords the kings of France, had their seneschal or steward, their chamberlain and their constable. After the Norman Conquest, the ducal household of Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
was reproduced in the royal household of England; and since, in obedience to the spirit of feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
, the great offices of the first had been made hereditary, the great offices of the second were made hereditary also, and were thenceforth held by the grantees and their descendants as holder of tenure in grand serjeanty
Serjeanty
Under the feudal system in late and high medieval England, tenure by serjeanty was a form of land-holding in return for some specified service, ranking between tenure by knight-service and tenure in socage...
of the crown.
The consequence was that they passed out of immediate relation to the practical conduct of affairs either in both state and court or in the one or the other of them. The steward and Lord High Chamberlain
Lord Great Chamberlain
The Lord Great Chamberlain of England is the sixth of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal and above the Lord High Constable...
of England were superseded in their political functions by the Justiciar
Justiciar
In medieval England and Ireland the Chief Justiciar was roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister as the monarch's chief minister. Similar positions existed on the Continent, particularly in Norman Italy. The term is the English form of the medieval Latin justiciarius or justitiarius In...
and Treasurer of England
Lord High Treasurer
The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Act of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third highest ranked Great Officer of State, below the Lord High Chancellor and above the Lord President...
, and in their domestic functions by the Lord Steward
Lord Steward
The Lord Steward or Lord Steward of the Household, in England, is an important official of the Royal Household. He is always a peer. Until 1924, he was always a member of the Government...
and Lord Chamberlain
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
of the household. The marshal of England took the place of the constable of England in the royal palace, and was associated with him in the command of the royal armies.
In due course, however, the marshalship as well as the constableship became hereditary, and, although the Constable
Lord High Constable
There are two current and one former royal offices in the United Kingdom of Lord High Constable:* The Lord High Constable of England, the seventh of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Great Chamberlain and above the Earl Marshal...
and Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England...
of England retained their military authority until a comparatively late period, the duties they had performed about the palace had been long before transferred to the master of the horse. In these circumstances the holders of the original great offices of state and the household ceased to attend the court except on occasions of extraordinary ceremony, and their representatives either by inheritance or by special appointment have ever since continued to appear at coronations
Coronation of the British monarch
The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally crowned and invested with regalia...
and some other public solemnities, such as the State Opening of Parliament
State Opening of Parliament
In the United Kingdom, the State Opening of Parliament is an annual event that marks the commencement of a session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is held in the House of Lords Chamber, usually in November or December or, in a general election year, when the new Parliament first assembles...
or trials by the House of Lords.
The earliest record relating to the English royal household is of the reign of Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
and is contained in the Black Book of the Exchequer. It enumerates the various inmates of the king's palace and the daily allowances made to them at the period at which it was compiled. It affords evidence of the antiquity and relative importance of the court offices to which it refers, though it is silent as to the functions and formal subordination of the persons who filled them. In addition to this record, there are more recent but (for the most part) equally meagre, documents bearing on the constitution of the royal household, and extending, with long intervals, from the reign of Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
to the reign of William and Mary
William and Mary
The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the coregency over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, of King William III & II and Queen Mary II...
. Among them, however, are what are known as the Black Book of the Household and the Statutes of Eltham, the first compiled in the reign of Edward IV
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
and the second in the reign of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
from which a good deal of detailed information is available concerning the arrangements of the court in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The Statutes of Eltham were meant for the practical guidance of those who were responsible for the good order and the sufficient supply of the sovereign's household at the time they were issued. The great officers of state and the household whom we have particularly mentioned do not of course exhaust the catalogue of them. We have named those only whose representatives are still dignitaries of the court and functionaries of the palace. If the reader consults Hallam
Henry Hallam
Henry Hallam was an English historian.-Life:The only son of John Hallam, canon of Windsor and dean of Bristol, Henry Hallam was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 1799...
(Middle Ages, i. 181 seq.), Freeman
Edward Augustus Freeman
Edward Augustus Freeman was an English historian. His reputation as a historian rests largely on his History of the Norman Conquest , his longest completed book...
(Norman Conquest, i. 91 seq., and v. 426 seq.) and Stubbs
William Stubbs
William Stubbs was an English historian and Bishop of Oxford.The son of William Morley Stubbs, a solicitor, he was born at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and was educated at Ripon Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in 1848, obtaining a first-class in classics and a third in...
(Const. Hist. i. 343, seq.), he will be able himself to fill in the details of the outline we have given above.
But the Black Book of the Household, besides being a sort of treatise on princely magnificence generally, professes to be based on the regulations established for the governance of the court by Edward III, who, it affirms, was "the first setter of among his , upon a grounded rule" and whose palace it describes as "the house of very and of England"; and it may therefore possibly, and even probably, take us back to a period much more remote than that at which it was actually put together.
Various orders, returns and accounts of the reigns of Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, and William and Mary throw considerable light on the organization of particular sections of the royal household in times nearer to our own. Moreover, there were several parliamentary inquiries into the expenses of the royal household in connexion
Connexion
Connexion or Connexions may refer to:* Connexionalism, a system of ecclesiastical polity* Connexion by Boeing, an in-flight online connectivity service* PhyQuest Connexion, a risk-reduction reporting system...
with the settlement or reform of the civil list
Civil list
-United Kingdom:In the United Kingdom, the Civil List is the name given to the annual grant that covers some expenses associated with the Sovereign performing their official duties, including those for staff salaries, State Visits, public engagements, ceremonial functions and the upkeep of the...
during the reigns of George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
, George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
and William IV
William IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
. But they add little or nothing to our knowledge of the subject in what was then its historical as distinguished from its contemporary aspects. So much, indeed, is this the case that, on the accession of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
, Chamberlayne
Edward Chamberlayne
Edward Chamberlayne was an English writer, known as the author of The Present State of England.-Life:The grandson of Sir Thomas Chamberlayne, knight, at one time English ambassador in the Low Countries, and son of Thomas Chamberlayne, he was born at Oddington, Gloucestershire, on 13 December 1616...
's Present State of England, which contains a catalogue of the officials at the court of Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
, was described by Lord Melbourne the prime minister
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, PC, FRS was a British Whig statesman who served as Home Secretary and Prime Minister . He is best known for his intense and successful mentoring of Queen Victoria, at ages 18-21, in the ways of politics...
as the "only authority" which the advisers of the crown could find for their assistance in determining the appropriate constitution and dimensions of the domestic establishment of a queen regnant
Queen regnant
A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....
.
In its main outlines the existing organization of the royal household is essentially the same as it was under the Tudors or the Plantagenets. It is divided into three principal departments, at the head of which are the lord steward, the lord chamberlain and the master of the horse, and the respective provinces of which may be generally described as "below stairs," "above stairs" and "out of doors." The duties of these officials, and the various officers under their charge are dealt with in the articles under those headings. When the reigning sovereign is a queen, the royal household is in some other respects rather differently arranged from that of a king and a queen consort.
When there is a king and a queen consort there is a separate establishment "above stairs" and "out of doors" for the queen consort. She has a Lord Chamberlain
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
's department of her own, and all the ladies of the court from the Mistress of the Robes
Mistress of the Robes
The Mistress of the Robes is the senior lady of the British Royal Household. Formerly responsible for the Queen's clothes and jewellery, the post now has the responsibility for arranging the rota of attendance of the Ladies in Waiting on the Queen, along with various duties at State ceremonies...
to the Maids of Honour are in her service. At the commencement of the reign of Queen Victoria the two establishments were combined, and on the whole considerably reduced. On the accession of Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
the civil list
Civil list
-United Kingdom:In the United Kingdom, the Civil List is the name given to the annual grant that covers some expenses associated with the Sovereign performing their official duties, including those for staff salaries, State Visits, public engagements, ceremonial functions and the upkeep of the...
was again reconstituted; and while the household of the king and his consort became larger than during the previous reign, there was a tendency towards increased efficiency by abolishing certain offices which were either redundant or unnecessary.
Scotland
The Royal Household in Scotland includes offices of personal, honorary and state appointments.The Great Officers of the Royal Household are:
- Lord High Constable of ScotlandLord High Constable of ScotlandThe Lord High Constable is a hereditary, now ceremonial, office of Scotland. In the order of precedence of Scotland, the office traditionally ranks above all titles except those of the Royal Family. The Lord High Constable was, after the King of Scots, the supreme officer of the Scottish army. He...
- Master of the HouseholdMaster of the Household of ScotlandThe office of Master of the Household is one of the Great Offices of the Royal Household in Scotland. It was held by various Earls of Argyll from the reign of James IV onwards. It was confirmed as a hereditary office to the 9th Earl by Crown charter of novodamus in 1667, and has remained with the...
- The Hereditary Keeper of Holyroodhouse (the Duke of HamiltonDuke of HamiltonDuke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that Peerage , and as such its holder is the Premier Peer of Scotland, as well as being head of both the House of Hamilton and the House of Douglas...
) - Armour-BearerArmour-BearerThe Armour-Bearer is one of the Great Offices of the Royal Household in Scotland.James IV granted the office of Armour-Bearer and Squire of His Majesty's Body to Sir Alexander Seton of Tullibody. This grant, apparently dating from 1488, was renewed by Charles II in 1651 to Sir Alexander's...
- Bearer of the Royal BannerBearer of the Royal BannerTbe Bearer of the Royal Banner is one of the Great Officers of the Royal Household in Scotland.In 1298 Alexander Scrymgeour was granted the office of Constable of Dundee for the service of carrying the royal banner in the army of Scotland, and in 1324 Robert I granted Alexander's son, Nicholas...
- Bearer of the National Flag of ScotlandBearer of the National Flag of ScotlandThe Bearer of the National Flag of Scotland is one of the Great Officers in the Royal Household of Scotland.By charter of novodamus of 1676, later ratified by the Parliament of Scotland, Charles II granted Charles Maitland "the office of bearing our insignia within our said realm of Scotland"...
- Lord Justice GeneralLord President of the Court of SessionThe Lord President of the Court of Session is head of the judiciary in Scotland, and presiding judge of the College of Justice and Court of Session, as well as being Lord Justice General of Scotland and head of the High Court of Justiciary, the offices having been combined in 1836...
- Great Steward of ScotlandHigh Steward of ScotlandThe title of High Steward or Great Steward was given in the 12th century to Walter Fitzalan, whose descendants became the House of Stewart. In 1371, the last High Steward inherited the throne, and thereafter the title of High Steward of Scotland has been held as a subsidiary title to that of Duke...
The Royal Household in Scotland also includes a number of other hereditary and non-hereditary offices:
- Master CarverMaster CarverThe Master Carver is a member of the Royal household in Scotland. A Crown Charter of 1704 ratified by Parliament in 1705, erected Sir William Anstruther's land into the Barony of Anstruther and conferred upon him the heritable offices of Master Carver and one of the Masters of the Household...
- Lord Lyon King of ArmsLord Lyon King of ArmsThe Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the oldest...
and his heralds and pursuivantPursuivantA pursuivant or, more correctly, pursuivant of arms, is a junior officer of arms. Most pursuivants are attached to official heraldic authorities, such as the College of Arms in London or the Court of the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh. In the mediaeval era, many great nobles employed their own officers of...
s, - GovernorGovernorA governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Edinburgh CastleEdinburgh CastleEdinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear... - The Royal Company of ArchersRoyal Company of ArchersThe Royal Company of Archers is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's Bodyguard in Scotland, a role it has performed since 1822 and the reign of King George IV, when the company provided a personal bodyguard to the King on his visit to Scotland. It is currently known as the Queen's...
, the monarch's bodyguard - Dean of the ThistleDean of the ThistleThe Dean of the Thistle is an office of the Order of the Thistle, re-established in 1687. The office is normally held by a minister of the Church of Scotland, and forms part of the Royal Household in Scotland....
, an officer of the Order of the ThistleOrder of the ThistleThe Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order... - Dean of the Chapel RoyalDean of the Chapel RoyalDean of the Chapel Royal, in any kingdom, can be the title of an official charged with oversight of that kingdom's Chapel Royal, the ecclesiastical establishment which is part of the Royal Household and ministers to it.-England:...
- Historiographer RoyalHistoriographer RoyalThe Historiographer Royal is a member of the Royal household in Scotland. The office was created in 1681, and was in abeyance from 1709 until 1763 when it was revived for Principal William Robertson of Edinburgh University. The post, which now has no formal responsibilities or salary, is held by...
- Her Majesty's BotanistHer Majesty's BotanistHis/Her Majesty's Botanist is a member of the Royal household in Scotland.The office was created in 1699, and from 1768 until 1956 it was combined with the office of Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, who also held the post of Regius Professor of Botany at the University of...
- The Painter and LimnerPainter and LimnerThe Painter and Limner is a member of the Royal Household in Scotland. Appointments of Court Painters are recorded from 1581 onwards, and the post of Painter and Limner was created in 1702 for George Ogilvie. The duties included "drawing pictures of our [the Monarch's] person or of our successors...
- Sculptor in Ordinary for ScotlandSculptor in Ordinary for ScotlandThe Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland is a member of the Royal household in Scotland. The first appointment was made by Queen Victoria around 1838, although it was not listed as a member of the Royal household until the 1870s. The office was made permanent in 1921.-Office holders:Holders of the...
- Astronomer Royal for ScotlandAstronomer Royal for ScotlandAstronomer Royal for Scotland was the title of the director of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh until 1995. It has since been an honorary title.The following have served as Astronomers Royal for Scotland:* 1834–1844 Thomas Henderson...
- A number of Hereditary Keepers of Palaces and Castles:
- Falkland PalaceFalkland PalaceFalkland Palace in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a former royal palace of the Scottish Kings. Today it is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, and serves as a tourist attraction.-Early years:...
- Ninian Crichton-StuartNinian Crichton-StuartNinian Crichton Stuart is the Hereditary Keeper of Falkland Palace a former Scottish royal palace in Falkland, Fife.Stuart lives in Falkland and is a former Stewardship Director for the Falkland Heritage Trust , ,... - Stirling CastleStirling CastleStirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
- the Earl of Mar and Kellie - Dunstaffnage CastleDunstaffnage CastleDunstaffnage Castle is a partially ruined castle in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland. It lies N.N.E. of Oban, situated on a platform of conglomerate rock on a promontory at the south-west of the entrance to Loch Etive, and is surrounded on three sides by the sea.The castle dates back to the 13th...
- the Duke of ArgyllDuke of ArgyllDuke of Argyll is a title, created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The Earls, Marquesses, and Dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, noble family in Scotland... - Dunconnel Castle - Sir Charles Edward Maclean of Dunconnel Bt, 2nd Baronet of Strachur and Glensluain, Baron Strachur, and 16th Hereditary Keeper and Captain of Dunconnel in the Isles of The Sea.
- Falkland Palace
- chaplains, physicians, surgeons, apothecaries
The Keeper of Dumbarton Castle
Dumbarton Castle
Dumbarton Castle has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Great Britain. It overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton, and sits on a plug of volcanic basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high.-Iron Age:...
and the Governor of Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
are non-hereditary offices.
Household of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
The Household of the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh provides the administrative support to His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of EdinburghPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
. It is based at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
, and is headed by his Private Secretary
Private Secretary
In the United Kingdom government, a Private Secretary is a civil servant in a Department or Ministry, responsible to the Secretary of State or Minister...
— the Treasurer
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
(part-time 1970-1976) was formerly the senior officer, but this post is now vacant. There are also an Equerry
Equerry
An equerry , and related to the French word "écuyer" ) is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually upon a Sovereign, a member of a Royal Family, or a national...
(a major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
or equivalent from any of the three armed services), and two temporary equerries (usually a Captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
from the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
, and a Captain from 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...
).
Treasurers to the Duke of Edinburgh
- 1984–1995: Sir Brian McGrathBrian McGrathSir Brian McGrath, GCVO was the Private Secretary to His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh.He was educated at Eton College. In 1943-1946 he served in the Irish Guards, and after the war he joined Cannon Brewery . In 1948 went to Victoria Wine Ltd, of which he became a director in 1949, and was...
GCVO - Acting, 1982–1984: Sir Richard DaviesRichard Davies (Royal Household)Sir Richard Davies, KCVO, CBE was a member of the Household of the Duke of Edinburgh of the United Kingdom.Davies was educated at Porth County School, and Cardiff Technical School...
KCVO CBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions... - 1970–1982: Lord Rupert NevillLord Rupert NevillLord Rupert Nevill, CVO, DL, JP was the younger son of Guy Larnach-Nevill, 4th Marquess of Abergavenny, and was vice-chairman of the National Playing-Fields Association from 1963, and Chairman of the British Olympic Association from 1966...
CVO JPJustice of the PeaceA justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
DL KStJVenerable Order of Saint JohnThe 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... - 1959–1970: RAdmRear Admiral (Royal Navy)Rear Admiral is a flag officer rank of the British Royal Navy. It is immediately superior to Commodore and is subordinate to Vice Admiral. It is a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7....
Sir Christopher Bonham-CarterChristopher Douglas Bonham-CarterRear Admiral Sir Christopher Douglas Bonham-Carter, GCVO, CB was a Royal Navy officer and Treasurer to the Duke of Edinburgh 1959-1970....
CBOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
GCVO - Acting, 1957–1960: CaptCaptain (British Army and Royal Marines)Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
David AlexanderDavid C AlexanderMajor-General David Crichton Alexander, CB was a British officer.-Biography:He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy, and joined the Royal Marines in 1944....
RMRoyal MarinesThe Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service... - 1952–1959: Lt Gen Sir Frederick BrowningFrederick BrowningLieutenant-General Sir Frederick Arthur Montague Browning GCVO, KBE, CB, DSO was a British Army officer who has been called the "father of the British airborne forces". He is best known as the commander of the I Airborne Corps and deputy commander of First Allied Airborne Army during Operation...
GCVO KBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
CB DSODistinguished Service OrderThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
Private Secretaries to the Duke of Edinburgh
- 2010—: Brigadier Archie Miller-Bakewell (see Appendix to the Court Circular of 2 November 2010)
- 1993–2010: BrigBrigadierBrigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
Sir Miles Hunt-DavisMiles Hunt-DavisBrigadier Sir Miles Garth Hunt-Davis, GCVO, CBE was the Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh until 2010.He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and educated at St Andrew's College, South Africa....
GCVORoyal Victorian OrderThe Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
CBE - 1984–1992: Sir Brian McGrathBrian McGrathSir Brian McGrath, GCVO was the Private Secretary to His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh.He was educated at Eton College. In 1943-1946 he served in the Irish Guards, and after the war he joined Cannon Brewery . In 1948 went to Victoria Wine Ltd, of which he became a director in 1949, and was...
GCVO - Acting 1982–1984: Sir Richard DaviesRichard Davies (Royal Household)Sir Richard Davies, KCVO, CBE was a member of the Household of the Duke of Edinburgh of the United Kingdom.Davies was educated at Porth County School, and Cardiff Technical School...
KCVO CBE - 1976–1982: Lord Rupert NevillLord Rupert NevillLord Rupert Nevill, CVO, DL, JP was the younger son of Guy Larnach-Nevill, 4th Marquess of Abergavenny, and was vice-chairman of the National Playing-Fields Association from 1963, and Chairman of the British Olympic Association from 1966...
CVO DL - 1970–1976: CdrCommanderCommander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
William WillettWilliam Willett (Royal Household)Commander William Basil Willett, OBE, MVO, DSC was Private Secretary to His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, consort of Queen Elizabeth II 1970-1976....
OBE MVO DSCDistinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...
RNRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service... - May–November 1970: RAdm Sir Christopher Bonham-CarterChristopher Douglas Bonham-CarterRear Admiral Sir Christopher Douglas Bonham-Carter, GCVO, CB was a Royal Navy officer and Treasurer to the Duke of Edinburgh 1959-1970....
GCVO CB - 1957–1970: James OrrJames Orr (Royal Household)James Orr CVO , was a police officer and Private Secretary to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh from 1957-1970.Orr was educated at Harrow School, and Gordonstoun School, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst....
CVO - 1947–1957: Lt CdrLieutenant CommanderLieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
Michael ParkerJohn Michael Avison Parker (Royal Household)Lieutenant-Commander John Michael Avison Parker, CVO, AM was Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh 1947-1957.The son of Captain C A Parker, CBE RAN, he was educated at Xavier College, Melbourne....
CVO AMOrder of AustraliaThe Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
RN
Household of TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall
The Household of The Prince of WalesPrince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
and The Duchess of Cornwall is the organised office and support system for His Royal Highness
Royal Highness
Royal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...
The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
, in his role as heir apparent
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
to the thrones of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the other Commonwealth realm
Commonwealth Realm
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state within the Commonwealth of Nations that has Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state. The sixteen current realms have a combined land area of 18.8 million km² , and a population of 134 million, of which all, except about two million, live in the six...
s, and for his consort Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall. At the time of their 2009 Annual Review the Office of the Prince of Wales had the full-time equivalent of 121 staff. The head of the Household is the Principal Private Secretary
Private Secretary
In the United Kingdom government, a Private Secretary is a civil servant in a Department or Ministry, responsible to the Secretary of State or Minister...
, William Nye. Senior officials include the Private Secretary, Mark Leishman; the Master of the Household
Master of the Household
The Master of the Household is the operational head of the "below stairs" elements of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom...
, Wg Cdr
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
Richard Pattle; the Treasurer
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
, Leslie Ferrar
Leslie Ferrar
Leslie Jane Ferrar has been Treasurer to Charles, Prince of Wales since January 2005. Her alleged behaviour in office has led to her being dubbed 'the grasping treasurer' by a couple of members of the 'Tabloid' press. Mrs Ferrar is the granddaughter of the author Bruce Marshall and Dr...
; Communications Secretary, Patrick Harverson
Patrick Harverson
Patrick Harverson is Communications Secretary and personal assistant to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.Harverson was born in 1962, and educated at Belmont Abbey, Hereford, Brockenhurst College, Hampshire, and the London School of Economics....
and Press Secretary, Patrick Harrison; the Director of The Prince's Charities
The Prince's Charities
The Prince's Charities is a group of twenty not-for-profit organisations of which HRH The Prince of Wales is Patron or President, eighteen of which were founded personally by The Prince. The group is supported by The Prince's Charities Foundation....
, Sir Tom Shebbeare
Tom Shebbeare
Sir Tom Shebbeare, KCVO, is Director of Charities to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.Shebbeare was educated at Malvern College and the University of Exeter, of which he was made an honorary LLD in 2005....
KCVO; and the Equerry
Equerry
An equerry , and related to the French word "écuyer" ) is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually upon a Sovereign, a member of a Royal Family, or a national...
, Maj Will Mackinlay.
In 2000 an Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales
Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales
The Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales is a position within the Royal Household. In 2000, Charles, Prince of Wales revived a tradition of having Welsh harpists, which was the first time the post has been occupied since it was last granted to John Thomas in 1871 by Queen Victoria.The harp is an...
was appointed. The first holder of the office was Miss Catrin Finch
Catrin Finch
Catrin Anna Finch is a Welsh harpist born in Llanon, Ceredigion, Wales. She was the Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales from 2000 to 2004 and is Visiting Professor at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the Royal Academy of Music...
. The Prince of Wales revived a tradition of having Welsh harpists by appointing Ms Finch. She was the first to receive a similar post since one was last granted in 1871 by Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
to John Thomas. In 2004 Catrin Finch was replaced by Miss Jemima Phillips, who in turn was replaced by Miss Claire Jones in 2007.
The Prince of Wales' Office is principally based at Clarence House
Clarence House
Clarence House is a royal home in London, situated on The Mall, in the City of Westminster. It is attached to St. James's Palace and shares the palace's garden. For nearly 50 years, from 1953 to 2002, it was home to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, but is since then the official residence of The...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, but also occupies rooms in the rest of St James's Palace. There are also offices for official staff at Highgrove House and Birkhall House, The Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
's private residences. In November 2006, The Prince of Wales bought his first home in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, the Llwynywormwood estate near Llandovery
Llandovery
Llandovery is a market town in Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the River Tywi and the A40 road.The town is served by Llandovery railway station, where there is a park and ride to Llanelli and Shrewsbury via the Heart of Wales Line...
, Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...
, which he plans to use when he and The Duchess of Cornwall are visiting the country. The estate consists of an ex-coachhouse and is set in almost 200 acre (0.809372 km²) of rolling parkland
Most of the expenses incurred in operating the office comes from The Prince of Wales's private appanage, the Duchy of Cornwall
Duchy of Cornwall
The Duchy of Cornwall is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch inherits the duchy and title of Duke of Cornwall at the time of his birth, or of his parent's succession to the throne. If the monarch has no son, the...
. The only significant costs met by grant-in-aid
Grant-in-aid
A grant-in-aid is money coming from central government for a specific project. This kind of funding is usually used when the government and parliament have decided that the recipient should be publicly funded but operate with reasonable independence from the state.In the United Kingdom, most bodies...
provided by the Government is for the upkeep of Clarence House
Clarence House
Clarence House is a royal home in London, situated on The Mall, in the City of Westminster. It is attached to St. James's Palace and shares the palace's garden. For nearly 50 years, from 1953 to 2002, it was home to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, but is since then the official residence of The...
, and for official travel by air and rail, and for communications support.
Details of The Prince's Senior Staff are available in his Office's Annual Reports. The following titles all have "to/of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall" suffixed when written in full. Prior to the Prince's 2005 marriage, they were instead suffixed "to/of The Prince of Wales".
Principal Private Secretaries
- 2005–12 September 2011: Sir Michael PeatMichael PeatSir Michael Charles Gerrard Peat, GCVO was the Principal Private Secretary to Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall between 2002 and 2011.-Life and career:...
KCVO - 12 September 2011 onwards: William Nye
Private Secretaries
- ?–present: Clive Alderton, Private Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
- ?–present: Manon Williams, Private Secretary for Wales (part-time)
- 2009—: Mark Leishman, LVO (as "Senior Deputy Private Secretary" January – July 2009)
- 2005–2008: Elizabeth BuchananElizabeth BuchananElizabeth Faith Currer Buchanan, CVO was formerly Private Secretary to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.Buchanan worked in public relations...
CVORoyal Victorian OrderThe Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys... - 2002–2005: Sir Michael Peat KCVO
- 1996–2002: Sir Stephen LamportStephen LamportSir Stephen Mark Jeffrey Lamport, KCVO, DL is Receiver General of Westminster Abbey after a dinstinguished career.He was born in 1951 and educated at Dorking Grammar School, and Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, where he was a Scholar and graduated with a BA , and subsequently...
KCVO - 1991–1996: Cdr Richard AylardRichard AylardCommander Richard Aylard, CVO Royal Navy is a Director and Special Advisor to the Chief Executive of Thames Water. From 1991-1996 he was Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales.-Education:...
CVO RN - 1990–1991: Maj GenMajor GeneralMajor general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Sir Christopher AiryChristopher AiryMajor-General Sir Christopher John Airy KCVO CBE was General Officer Commanding the Household Division and Major-General Commanding London District.-Military career:...
KCVO CBE - September 1985–1990: Sir John Riddell BtBaronetA baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
CVO FRSARoyal Society of ArtsThe Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity... - Acting 1 April–September 1985 David RoycroftDavid RoycroftDavid Roycroft is a former United Kingdom diplomat.He served in the armed forces from 1968 to 1974, when he joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a 2nd Secretary. In 1977 he was sent to Lisbon as 1st Secretary , and in 1981 returned to London.In July 1983 he was appointed Assistant Private...
- 1979–1985: The HonThe HonourableThe prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.-International diplomacy:...
Edward AdeaneEdward AdeaneThe Hon. Edward Adeane CVO, , Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales 1979 to 1985.Adeane was born in 1939, son of Michael Adeane. He was educated at Eton College and Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, where he graduated with an MA...
CVO - 1970–1978: Sqn Ldr Sir David CheckettsDavid CheckettsSquadron Leader Sir David John Checketts, KCVO was Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales 1970-1978.He was educated at a grammar school...
KCVO
Masters of the Household
- 2008—: Wing Cdr Richard Pattle
- 2006–2008: Lt Col Sir Malcolm Ross
- 2005–2006: Kevin Knott
Deputy Private Secretaries
- 2008—: Benet Northcote
- 2005/6–?: Clive Alderton
- 2005–2008: Mark Leishman
- 2005–?: Mrs Manon Williams
- 2005: James Kidner MVO
- 2002–2005: Elizabeth BuchananElizabeth BuchananElizabeth Faith Currer Buchanan, CVO was formerly Private Secretary to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.Buchanan worked in public relations...
LVORoyal Victorian OrderThe Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys... - 1998–2002: Mark BollandMark William BollandMark Bolland was Deputy Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales 1997-2002.Bolland was born on 10 April 1966 in Toronto, and educated at the King's Manor School, Middlesbrough, and the University of York, where he received a BSc in chemistry....
- 1993–1996: Stephen Lamport
- 1990–1993: Sir Peter WestmacottPeter WestmacottSir Peter John Westmacott, KCMG, LVO is a senior British diplomat, currently serving as HM Ambassador to the French Republic....
KCMGOrder of St Michael and St GeorgeThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
LVO - 1988–1990: David WrightDavid Wright (diplomat)Sir David John Wright GCMG LVO is a former British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to Japan 1996-1999.-Early life:David Wright was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School, and at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge....
LVO - 1986–1988: ColColonelColonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Humphrey MewsHumphrey MewsColonel Humphrey Mews was Deputy Private Secretary to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales 1986-1988.Mews joined the Royal Artillery after Sandhurst. After Sandhurst, he was posted as a 2nd Lieutenant to 22 Battery, Royal Artillery as officer in charge of "B" Troop Radar Section, taking over...
Assistant Private Secretaries
- ?–present: Emily Cherrington
- ?–present: Sarah Kennedy-Good
- 2008: Shilpa Sinha
- 2008–present: Sophie Densham
- 2006–2008: Anita Kumar
- 2006–present: Jonathan Hellewell
- 2005–2007: Katy Golding
- 2005–present: Joy Camm & Amanda MacManus (each part-time)
- 2005–2005: Mrs Manon Williams
- ?–2005: Mark Leisham
- ?–2005: James Kidner
- ?–2005: Paul Kefford
Equerries
- ?–present: Maj Peter Flynn
- 2008–?: Maj Will Mackinlay
- 2006–2008: Sqn Ldr Jayne Casebury
- ?–2006: Wing Cdr Richard Pattle
- ?–2004/5:Maj Rupert Lendrum (Senior Equerry)
Assistant Masters of the Household
- ?–present: Virginia Carington
- as "Special Assistant" until 2007
- as "Assistant Master of the Household" since 2007
Household of TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and HRH Prince Henry of Wales
A part-time Private Secretary to His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales and His Royal Highness Prince Harry of WalesPrince Harry of Wales
Prince Henry of Wales , commonly known as Prince Harry, is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and fourth grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
(James Lowther-Pinkerton
James Lowther-Pinkerton
Anthony James Moxon "Jamie" Lowther-Pinkerton MVO, MBE is Private Secretary to Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Henry of Wales, in the Household of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Henry of Wales. He was appointed 2 May 2005...
MVO MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
Irish Guards
Irish Guards
The Irish Guards , part of the Guards Division, is a Foot Guards regiment of the British Army.Along with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish regiments remaining in the British Army. The Irish Guards recruit in Northern Ireland and the Irish neighbourhoods of major British cities...
(Rtd.)) was appointed in the Household of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in May 2005. In January 2009, a separate Household of HRH Prince William of Wales and HRH Prince Henry of Wales was established, headed by Lowther-Pinkerton. Following Prince William's marriage, the Household also additionally serves his wife. The Household's offices are in St James's Palace; it shares funding and much of its staff with Clarence House. The Household is also called the Household of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, and as of 2011, has the equivalent of 7.8 full-time staff.
- Private Secretary to The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Henry of Wales: Mr James Lowther-PinkertonJames Lowther-PinkertonAnthony James Moxon "Jamie" Lowther-Pinkerton MVO, MBE is Private Secretary to Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Henry of Wales, in the Household of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Henry of Wales. He was appointed 2 May 2005...
MVORoyal Victorian OrderThe Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
MBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
Irish GuardsIrish GuardsThe Irish Guards , part of the Guards Division, is a Foot Guards regiment of the British Army.Along with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish regiments remaining in the British Army. The Irish Guards recruit in Northern Ireland and the Irish neighbourhoods of major British cities...
(Retd.) - Advisor to The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Henry of Wales: Sir David ManningDavid ManningSir David Geoffrey Manning, GCMG, CVO is a former British diplomat, who was the British Ambassador to the United States from 2003 to 2007. He authored the so-called "Manning Memo" summarising the details of a January 2003 meeting between American president George W. Bush and British prime minister...
GCMGOrder of St Michael and St GeorgeThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
CVORoyal Victorian OrderThe Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys... - Personal Private Secretary to The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Henry of Wales: Miss Helen Asprey
- Press Secretary to The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Henry of Wales: Mr Miguel Head, also Assistant Press Secretary at Clarence House
- Official Spokesperson for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Henry of Wales: Mr Paddy HarversonPaddy HarversonPaddy Harverson is the current Communications Secretary at Clarence House, the official London residence of The Prince of Wales. He is also the official spokesperson for TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.-External links:...
, also Communications Secretary at Clarence House
It was announced in June 2011 that TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will temporarily move their official London residence to an apartment in Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British Royal Family since the 17th century and is the official London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and...
, a move that was completed in August of that year. The Duke and Duchess' primary residence will continue to be the island of Anglesey
Anglesey
Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, where the Duke serves as a RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
search and rescue pilot. The couple previously shared an apartment at Clarence House with Prince Harry, which Prince Harry will retain. On November 6, 2011, it was announced that the Duke, Duchess and Prince Harry, along with the Queen and the Prince of Wales, have approved a plan that will have the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge permanently move to a larger apartment in Kensington Palace. This apartment was previously occupied by the Queen's sister, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger daughter of King George VI....
and her husband Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon
Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon
Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, GCVO, RDI is an English photographer and film maker. He was married to Princess Margaret, younger daughter of King George VI and younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II....
after their marriage in 1960. The apartment was retained by Princess Margaret after her divorce in 1978 and was her London residence until her death in 2002. The move will not occur until 2013 to allow for extensive renovations, including electrical and plumbing work as well as asbestos abatement
Asbestos abatement
Many buildings contain asbestos, which was used in spray-applied flame retardant, thermal system insulation, and in a variety of other materials. Asbestos was sometimes "flocked" above false ceilings, inside technical ducts, and in many other small spaces where firefighters would have difficulty...
. Once the Duke and Duchess move into their new apartment, Prince Harry will move his official residence from Clarence House to Duke and Duchess' current apartment. In addition, once the move is complete, it is expected that their official household will also move to Kensington Palace from St James's Palace, although it is not known if the household will be split or remain shared. Until 2013, their Household will remain based at St James's Palace and will continue to be shared.
Household of HRH The Duke of York
The Household of The Duke of YorkDuke of York
The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...
provides the administrative support for His Royal Highness The Duke of York
Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Prince Andrew, Duke of York KG GCVO , is the second son, and third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
in his royal duties, along with his immediate family. From 1971 the Duke of York
Duke of York
The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...
, then The Prince Andrew (aged 11 years), had the assistance of one of The Queen's Equerries
Equerry
An equerry , and related to the French word "écuyer" ) is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually upon a Sovereign, a member of a Royal Family, or a national...
when required. The first was Sqn Ldr Peter Beer
Peter Beer
Air Vice-Marshal Peter Beer, CB CBE LVO RAF was a senior Royal Air Force officer and was Equerry to The Queen 1971-1974.Beer was born in 1941.He attended the Royal College of Defence Studies, and the RAF Staff College, Cranwell....
, who served until he was replaced by Maj George Broke
George Broke
Colonel George Robin Straton Broke LVO Royal Artillery was Equerry to The Queen 1974-1977, and also responsible to the Princes Andrew and Edward....
Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
in 1974, and Lt Cdr Robert Guy RN in 1977.
It was only with the appointment in 1980 of Sqn Ldr Adam Wise
Adam Wise
Group Captain Adam N Wise LVO MBE RAF , was Private Secretary and Equerry to Prince Andrew and Prince Edward from 1983 to 1987.Wise was born in 1943 and educated at university , and the RAF College Cranwell...
, that the Prince could be said to have acquired the assistance of his own staff — although he was still shared with The Queen and The Prince Edward
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex KG GCVO is the third son and fourth child of Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh...
. In 1983, Wise was promoted to Wing Commander
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
and appointed Private Secretary to The Princes Andrew and Edward, severing his link with The Royal Household. He left the Duke of York's service in 1987, when Lt Col Sean O'Dwyer
Sean O'Dwyer
Lieutenant-Colonel Sean Gillespie O'Dwyer, CVO DL was Private Secretary and Equerry to the Duke of York 1987-1990 and Private Secretary and Equerry to the Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex 1987-2001.He was born 11 September 1941 and educated at Sandhurst...
was appointed — also jointly with Prince Edward.
The Duke of York is now assisted by a Private Secretary, Deputy Private Secretary, Assistant Private Secretary and Equerry
Equerry
An equerry , and related to the French word "écuyer" ) is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually upon a Sovereign, a member of a Royal Family, or a national...
. There are also an Office Assistant, and a handful of personal staff including cook and butler
Butler
A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
. The Duke of York's Office is currently based at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
, and the Duke has a residence at The Royal Lodge
Royal Lodge
The Royal Lodge is a house in the civil parish of Old Windsor, located in Windsor Great Park, half a mile north of Cumberland Lodge and south of Windsor Castle. It was the Windsor residence of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1952 until her death there in 2002. Since 2004 it has been the...
, Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
, into which he moved during 2004, from Sunninghill Park
Sunninghill Park
Sunninghill Park is a country house and estate of some , located north of Sunninghill, lying between Ascot and the southern boundary of Windsor Great Park in Berkshire, England. It was the official residence of the Duke of York from 1990 until 2004....
, Ascot
Ascot, Berkshire
Ascot is a village within the civil parish of Sunninghill and Ascot, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. It is most notable as the location of Ascot Racecourse, home of the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting...
.
Private Secretaries to the Duke of York
- 2003–: (Maj) Alastair WatsonAlastair WatsonMajor Alastair Alexander Linton Watson LVO has been Private Secretary to HRH The Duke of York since July 2003.He was born in Wuppertal, West Germany, educated at Eagle House, Wellington College and at New College, Oxford, before he joined the Black Watch Major Alastair Alexander Linton Watson LVO...
LVO - 2001–2003: Cdr Charlotte ManleyCharlotte ManleyCommander Charlotte Manley, LVO, OBE has been Chapter Clerk of St George's Chapel, Windsor since 2003, and was Private Secretary and Treasurer to the Duke of York 2001-2003....
LVO OBE RN - 1990–2001: CaptCaptain (Royal Navy)Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
Neil BlairNeil BlairCaptain Robert Neil Blair CVO RN was Private Secretary and Treasurer to The Duke of York, 1990–2001.Blair was born in 1936, and educated at St John's College, Johannesburg, and Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. He served in the Royal Navy from 1954, and was on the RAF staff course.From...
CVO RN - 1987–1990: Lt Col Sean O'DwyerSean O'DwyerLieutenant-Colonel Sean Gillespie O'Dwyer, CVO DL was Private Secretary and Equerry to the Duke of York 1987-1990 and Private Secretary and Equerry to the Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex 1987-2001.He was born 11 September 1941 and educated at Sandhurst...
MVO DL Irish Guards (Retd.) - 1983–1987: Wg Cdr Adam WiseAdam WiseGroup Captain Adam N Wise LVO MBE RAF , was Private Secretary and Equerry to Prince Andrew and Prince Edward from 1983 to 1987.Wise was born in 1943 and educated at university , and the RAF College Cranwell...
LVO MBE
Household of TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex
The Household of the EarlPrince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex KG GCVO is the third son and fourth child of Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh...
and Countess of Wessex provides the administrative support to His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex KG GCVO is the third son and fourth child of Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh...
, youngest son of The Queen, and to his wife Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex. While their private residence is Bagshot Park
Bagshot Park
Bagshot Park is a royal residence located near Bagshot, a village south west of Windsor and approximately north east of Guildford . It is the current home of The Earl and Countess of Wessex. Bagshot Park is on Bagshot Heath, a fifty square-mile tract of formerly open land in Surrey and Berkshire...
; their office, headed by the Private Secretary
Private Secretary
In the United Kingdom government, a Private Secretary is a civil servant in a Department or Ministry, responsible to the Secretary of State or Minister...
, is based at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
.
Private Secretaries to the Earl of Wessex
- 2002—: Brig John SmedleyJohn Smedley (Royal Household)Brigadier John Edward Bruce Smedley LVO is Private Secretary to TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex.He was educated at Felsted School, commissioned into the Royal Tank Regiment as a University Cadet and read Economics at Reading University. All his regimental service was with 3rd Royal Tank...
- 1987–2001: Lt Col Sean O'DwyerSean O'DwyerLieutenant-Colonel Sean Gillespie O'Dwyer, CVO DL was Private Secretary and Equerry to the Duke of York 1987-1990 and Private Secretary and Equerry to the Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex 1987-2001.He was born 11 September 1941 and educated at Sandhurst...
LVO DL Irish Guards (Retd.) - 1983–1987: Wg CdrWing Commander (rank)Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
Adam WiseAdam WiseGroup Captain Adam N Wise LVO MBE RAF , was Private Secretary and Equerry to Prince Andrew and Prince Edward from 1983 to 1987.Wise was born in 1943 and educated at university , and the RAF College Cranwell...
LVO MBE
Household of HRH The Princess Royal
The Household of the Princess RoyalPrincess Royal
Princess Royal is a style customarily awarded by a British monarch to his or her eldest daughter. The style is held for life, so a princess cannot be given the style during the lifetime of another Princess Royal...
provides the administrative support to Her Royal Highness
Royal Highness
Royal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...
The Princess Royal
Anne, Princess Royal
Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
, second child and only daughter of The Queen. While the Princess Royal's private residence is Gatcombe Park
Gatcombe Park
Gatcombe Park is the private country home of Anne, Princess Royal, situated in England between the Gloucestershire villages of Minchinhampton and Avening, five miles south of Stroud and around six miles north of Highgrove House, the country residence of Prince Charles.The house and farming estate...
; her official London residence and office, headed by the Private Secretary
Private Secretary
In the United Kingdom government, a Private Secretary is a civil servant in a Department or Ministry, responsible to the Secretary of State or Minister...
, is based at St James's Palace.
Private Secretaries to the Princess Royal
- 2002—: Capt Nick WrightNicholas Peter WrightCaptain Nicholas Peter Wright, CVO has been Private Secretary to The Princess Royal since 2002.He was educated at Ampleforth College, the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and the Joint Service Defence College....
CVO RN - 1999–2002: Col Timothy EarlTimothy EarlColonel Timothy James Earl, OBE was Private Secretary to The Princess Royal between 1999-2002. He was educated at Brentwood School and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst....
OBE - 1997–1999: Rupert McGuiganRupert Iain McGuiganRupert McGuigan was Private Secretary to The Princess Royal 1997-1999.He was born in 1941 and educated at Marlborough College, and Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he graduated in law. McGuigan worked for BP Ltd from 1964 until 1972, when he joined the Diplomatic Service.From 1974-1977 he was...
- 1982–1997: Lt Col Sir Peter GibbsPeter Wyldbore GibbsLieutenant-Colonel Sir Peter Wyldebore Gibbs, KCVO was Private Secretary to The Princess Royal 1982-1997.Educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in 25th July 1953, promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1974, and became Assistant...
KCVO - 1976–1982: Maj Nicholas Lawson
- 1974–1976: Maj Benjamin Herman MVO RM
Household of TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester
- Private Secretary, Comptroller and Equerry, to the Duke & Duchess of Gloucester: Maj. N.M. L. Barne, LVO
Household of TRH The Duke and Duchess of Kent
- Private Secretary to the Duke of Kent: Nick Adamson CVO OBE
Household of TRH Prince and Princess Michael of Kent
- Private Secretary to Prince Michael of Kent: Nick Chance LVO
Household of HRH Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy
- Private Secretary: Mrs Diane Duke
- Lady in Waiting: The Lady Mary Mumford
- Lady in Waiting: Mrs Peter Afia LVO
Lords Chamberlain
- 1863-1873: George Harris, 3rd Baron HarrisGeorge Harris, 3rd Baron HarrisGeorge Francis Robert Harris, 3rd Baron Harris GCSI , was a British peer, Liberal politician and colonial administrator...
- 1873-1903: Charles Colville, 10th Lord Colville of CulrossCharles Colville, 1st Viscount Colville of CulrossCharles John Colville, 1st Viscount Colville of Culross KT, GCVO, PC , known as The Lord Colville of Culross between 1849 and 1902, was a British nobleman, Conservative politician and courtier.-Background and education:...
(Viscount Colville of Culross from 1902) - 1903-1925: Richard Curzon, 4th Earl HoweRichard Curzon, 4th Earl HoweRichard George Penn Curzon, 4th Earl Howe GCVO, TD, JP , styled Viscount Curzon between 1876 and 1900, was a British courtier and Conservative politician...
Equerries
- 1901-1910: John Brocklehurst (extra 1910-?)
- 1910-1923: Sir Arthur Davidson
- 1910-?: Sir George Holford
- 1910-?: John Hubert Ward
- 1910-?: Henry Streatfield
- 1923-?: Edward Seymour
Private Secretaries
- ?-1870: Herbert W. Fisher
- 1870-1889: Maurice Holzmann
- 1889-?: Stanley de A. C. Clarke
- 1901-1911: Hon. Sidney Greville
- 1911-?: Henry Streatfield
Mistresses of the Robes
- 1901-1912: Louisa Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Duchess of BuccleuchLouisa Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Duchess of BuccleuchLady Louisa Jane Hamilton was the daughter of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn. In 1884, she became the Duchess of Buccleuch and Duchess of Queensberry, the wife of William Henry Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 6th Duke of Buccleuch & 8th Duke of Queensberry...
- 1913-1925: Winifred Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland
Ladies of the Bedchamber
- 1863-1873: Fanny Osborne, Marchioness of Carmathen (Duchess of Leeds from 1871)
- 1863-1901: Helen Douglas, Countess of Morton (extra 1901-1910)
- 1863-1901: Mary Parker, Countess of Macclesfield (extra 1901-1910)
- 1863-1866: Henrietta Robinson, Countess de Grey
- 1873-1910: Cecilia Harbord, Baroness Suffield
- 1895-1905: Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Countess of Lytton
- 1905-1910: Maud Petty-FitzMaurice, Marchioness of LansdowneMaud Petty-FitzMaurice, Marchioness of LansdowneMaud Evelyn Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne, GBE, CH, VA, CI , née Lady Maud Evelyn Hamilton, was a British courtier. She vice-regal spouce of Canada while her husband was Governor General of Canada from 1883-1888...
(extra 1910-?) - 1907-1910: Cicely Gascoyne-Cecil, Marchioness of Salisbury (extra 1910-?)
- 1911-1925: Cecilia Wynn Carrington, Countes Carrington (Marchioness of Lincolnshire from 1912)
Extra Ladies of the Bedchamber
- 1910-?: Alice Stanley, Countess of DerbyAlice Stanley, Countess of DerbyAlice Stanley was born as Lady Alice Maud Olivia Montagu, the daughter of the 7th Duke of Manchester and his wife, Countess Louise von Alten....
- 1910-?: Winifred Hardinge, Baroness Hardinge of Penshurst
Lords-in-Waiting
- 1910-?: Francis Knollys, 1st Baron KnollysFrancis Knollys, 1st Viscount KnollysFrancis Knollys, 1st Viscount Knollys, GCB, GCVO, KCMG, PC, ISO , was Private Secretary to the Sovereign 1901–1913....
Women of the Bedchamber
- 1863-1865: Hon. Mrs Robert Bruce (extra 1865-?)
- 1863-1873: Hon. Mrs William George Grey (extra 1873-?)
- 1863-?: Hon. Mrs Edward Coke
- 1863-?: Mrs. Francis Stonor
- 1865-?: Hon. Mrs Arthur Hardinge
- 1872-1907: Lady Emily Kingscote
- 1873-?: (Elizabeth) Charlotte KnollysCharlotte KnollysElizabeth Charlotte Knollys was a Lady of the Bedchamber, and the first woman private secretary, to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, later Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, consort of Edward VII of the United Kingdom.-Biography:...
- 1893-1910: Mrs. Charles Hardinge
- 1901-?: Lady (Victoria) Alice Stanley
Maids of Honour
- 1901-1905: Hon. Dorothy Vivian
- 1901-?: Hon. Violet Vivian
- 1901-1905: Hon. Mary Dyke
- 1901-?: Hon. Sylvia Edwardes
- 1905-?: Margaret Dawnay
- 1905-?: Blanche Lacelles
- 1919-?: Hon. Lucia White
Surgeon
- 1907-?: Hugh Rigby
- 1910-?: Sir Frederick TrevesSir Frederick Treves, 1st BaronetSir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet, GCVO, CH, CB was a prominent British surgeon of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, now most famous for his friendship with Joseph Merrick, "the Elephant Man".-Eminent surgeon:...
Hon. Domestic Chaplain
- 1910-?: Edgar Sheppard
- 1911-?: Frederic Percival Farrar
- 1911-?: Ernest Edward HolmesErnest Edward HolmesErnest Edward Holmes , CVO, DD was an eminent Anglican Priest and author in the 20th century. He was born on 18 November 1854 and ordained in 1876. He began his career with a curacy in Rugeley after which he was Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of Cape Town and then the Lord Bishop of Oxford....
- 1911-?: Mortimer Egerton Kennedy
- 1912-?: Arthur Rowland Harry Grant
Household of HM Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother
This is an incomplete list of those who served in Elizabeth Bowes-LyonElizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
's Household
- 1952–2002: HM Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mother's "Household of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother"
- 1936–1952: HM The Queen's "Household of The Queen"
- included in HRH The Prince Albert, Duke of York's "Household of The Duke of York"
Comptroller
- 1952-1953: Peter TownsendPeter Townsend (Group Captain)Group Captain Peter Wooldridge Townsend, CVO, DSO, DFC and Bar, RAF was Equerry to King George VI 1944–1952 and held the same position for Queen Elizabeth II 1952–1953.-RAF career:...
- 1953-1974: Lord Adam GordonLord Adam GordonMajor Lord Adam Granville Gordon, KCVO, MBE was a British royal courtier.Gordon was the second son of Lt.-Col. Douglas Gordon, who was later an equerry to the Duke of Connaught...
- 1974-2002: Sir Alastair AirdAlastair AirdCaptain Sir Alastair Sturgis Aird, GCVO was a British royal courtier.Aird was the second son of Malcolm Aird and his wife Joan née Sturgis...
Equerries
- 1950-1956: Capt Oliver Dawnay
- 1955-1956: Sir Martin Gilliat
- 1956-1984: Sir Francis Legh
- 1959-2002: Sir Ralph AnstrutherSir Ralph Anstruther, 7th BaronetSir Ralph Anstruther, 7th Baronet, GCVO, MC, DL was a Scottish courtier.The only son of Captain Robert Edward Anstruther MC of the Black Watch only son of Sir Ralph William Anstruther, 6th Baronet, and Marguerite Blanche Lily de Burgh, he was educated at Eton and at Magdalene College,...
Bt - 1968-1970: Richard Jenkins
- 1984-2002: Maj George Seymour
- 1992-1994: The Hon Edward Dawson-Damer
- 1993-2002: Sir Alastair Aird
Extra Equerries
- 1953-2002: The Rt HonThe Right HonourableThe Right Honourable is an honorific prefix that is traditionally applied to certain people in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Anglophone Caribbean and other Commonwealth Realms, and occasionally elsewhere...
The Lord SinclairCharles St Clair, 17th Lord SinclairMajor Charles Murray Kennedy St Clair, 17th Lord Sinclair, CVO was a Scottish peer who spent his entire life in the service of the Crown; as a soldier, an officer of arms, an equerry in the Queen Mother's Household, a representative peer and as a Lord Lieutenant.-Early and personal life:Charles St... - 1955-?: Sir Robert Kearsley
- 1956: Maj Raymond Seymour
- 1956-1962: Capt Oliver Dawnay
- 1958-?: Maj Sir John GriffinJohn Griffin-Sports personalities:*John Griffin , English doctor who played international rugby for Wales*John Charles Griffin , American boxer known as Corn Griffin*John-Ford Griffin , American Major League Baseball outfielder...
- 1964-1973: Alastair Aird
- 1995-2002: Capt Ashe Windham
- 1998-2002: The Hon Nicholas AsshetonNicholas AsshetonNicholas Assheton , a country squire and writer who lived at Downham, near Clitheroe, Lancashire, is noteworthy on account of a brief diary which he left illustrating the character of the country life of that part of West Lancashire which is associated with the poet Spenser...
Temporary Equerries
- 1955: Maj Raymond Seymour
- 1956-1958: Maj John Griffin
- 1958-1960: Capt William Richardson
- 1960-1964: Capt Alastair Aird
- 1980-1982: Capt Ashe Windham
- 1982-1984: The Hon Jeremy Stopford
- 1984-1986: Capt Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton
- ?-1994: Capt The Hon Edward Dawson-Damer
- 1994-?: Maj Colin Burgess
- 2000-2002: Capt Mark Grayson
Ladies-in-Waiting
- 1923-1926: Lady Katharine Meade
- 1926-1932: Lady Helen Graham
- 1932-1936: The Hon Lettice Bowlby
- 1985-2002: Jane Walker-Okeover
- 1990-2002: Lady Margaret Colville
- 1991-2002: The Hon Margaret RhodesMargaret RhodesMargaret Rhodes, LVO , is a first cousin of Elizabeth II.She was born The Hon. Margaret Elphinstone in London, the youngest daughter of the 16th Lord Elphinstone and his wife Mary . Margaret was a bridesmaid to her cousin Elizabeth on 20 November 1947...
- 1993-2002: Jennifer Gordon-Lennox
Extra Ladies-in-Waiting
- 1929-?: The Rt Hon The Lady Annaly
Ladies of the Bedchamber
- 1937–1941: The Rt Hon The Viscountess Halifax (extra 1946-?)
- 1937–1947: The Rt Hon The Lady Nunburnholme
- 1937–1972: The Rt Hon The Countess SpencerCynthia Spencer, Countess SpencerCynthia Elinor Beatrix Spencer, Countess Spencer, DCVO, OBE , known as Lady Cynthia Hamilton until her marriage, and from then as Viscountess Althorp until 1922 when her husband inherited his father's title of Earl Spencer, was a British peeress and the paternal grandmother of Diana, Princess of...
DCVORoyal Victorian OrderThe Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
OBE - 1937–1994: The Rt Hon The Viscountess HambledenPatricia Smith, Viscountess HambledenPatricia Smith, Viscountess Hambleden GCVO was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth from 1937–94....
GCVO (as Dowager Viscountess from 1948) - 1945–1967: The Rt Hon The Lady Harlech (extra 1941-1945; as Dowager Lady from 1964)
- 1947–1979: The Rt Hon The Countess of Scarbrough as Dowager Countess from 1969
- 1973–2002: The Rt Hon The Lady Grimthorpe (daughter of the above Countess of Scarborough)
- 1994–2002: The Rt Hon The Countess of Scarbrough (daughter-in-law of the above Countess of Scarborough)
Lord Chamberlain
- 1937-1965: Col The Rt Hon The Earl of AirlieDavid Ogilvy, 12th Earl of AirlieColonel David Lyulph Gore Wolseley Ogilvy, 12th and 7th Earl of Airlie, KT, GCVO, MC was a Scottish peer, soldier and courtier....
KTOrder of the ThistleThe Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order...
GCVO MCMilitary CrossThe 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.... - 1965-1992: The Rt Hon The Earl of DalhousieSimon Ramsay, 16th Earl of DalhousieSimon Ramsay, 16th Earl of Dalhousie, KT, GCVO, GBE, MC, DL was a British land-owner, statesman and politician....
KT GCVO GBE MC DL - 1992-2002: The Rt Hon The Earl of CrawfordRobert Lindsay, 29th Earl of CrawfordRobert Alexander Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford and 12th Earl of Balcarres, , styled Lord Balniel between 1940 and 1975, is a Scottish hereditary peer and Conservative politician. The elder son of the 28th Earl of Crawford and 11th Earl of Balcarres, he succeeded to the titles in 1975...
KT GCVO PC
Mistress of the Robes
- 1937-1964: Her GraceGrace (style)His Grace or Her Grace is a style used for various high ranking personages. It was the style used to address the King or Queen of Scotland up to the Act of Union of 1707, which merged the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, and to address monarchs of England prior to Henry VIII...
The Dowager Duchess of NorthumberlandHelen Percy, Duchess of NorthumberlandHelen Percy, Duchess of Northumberland, GCVO was born as Helen Magdalan Gordon-Lennox, the daughter of the Earl of March and Kinrara ....
GCVO - 1964-1990: Her Grace The Duchess of AbercornKathleen Hamilton, Duchess of AbercornKathleen Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn, DCVO was Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1964 to her death in 1990...
DCVO - 1990-2002: Vacant
Pages of Honour
- 1962-1964: James Charteris, Lord Neidpath
- 1964-1966: John Dalrymple-Hamilton Esq.
- 1966-1967: The Hon Valentine Cecil
- 1967-1969: Richard Scott, Lord Eskdaill (later Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry)
- 1969-1971: Simon Mulholland Esq.
- 1971-1973: Michael Bowes-Lyon, Lord GlamisMichael Bowes-Lyon, 18th Earl of Strathmore and KinghorneMichael Fergus Bowes-Lyon, 18th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, DL , is a former politician in the House of Lords and former British Army officer.-Family and Background:...
(later Earl of Strathmore and KinghorneEarl of Strathmore and KinghorneThe title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...
) - 1973-1974: Gilbert Clayton Esq.
- 1974-1975: Colin Campbell-Preston
- 1975-1977: Charles Bruce, Lord Bruce
- 1977-1979: Gavin Rankin Esq.
- 1979-1982: Henry Beaumont Esq.Henry Alexander Nicholas BeaumontHenry Alexander Nicholas Beaumont is the son of Sir Edward Nicholas Canning Beaumont and Jane Caroline Falconer Wallace, and grandson of the 2nd Viscount Allendale. He was Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother from 1979 to 1982....
- 1982-1984: The Hon Maurice RocheMaurice Roche, 6th Baron FermoyPatrick Maurice Burke Roche, 6th Baron Fermoy is a British peer. He is the eldest son of Edmund Roche, 5th Baron Fermoy and his wife, the former Lavinia Pitman. Lord Fermoy is also a cousin of Diana, Princess of Wales...
(later Baron FermoyBaron FermoyBaron Fermoy is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1856 for Edmond Roche, who represented County Cork and Marylebone in the House of Commons and also served as Lord Lieutenant of County Cork. His younger son, the third Baron, sat as Member of Parliament for Kerry East. He was...
) - 1984-1986: Andrew Hope, Viscount Aithrie (now Earl of Hopetoun)
- 1987-1989: Andrew Lillingston, Esq.
- 1989-1991: Richard Lumley, Viscount Lumley (later Earl of ScarbroughEarl of ScarbroughEarl of Scarbrough is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1690 for Richard Lumley, 2nd Viscount Lumley. He is best remembered as one of the Immortal Seven who invited William of Orange to invade England and depose his father-in-law James II...
) - 1991-1993: John Carew-Pole Esq.
- 1993-1995: Arthur Wellesley, Earl of MorningtonArthur Wellesley, Earl of MorningtonArthur Gerald Wellesley, Earl of Mornington , is the son of Charles Valerian Wellesley, Marquess of Douro, and after his father heir to the Dukedom of Wellington...
- 1995-1998: The Hon Thomas Lumley
- 1998-1999: Harry Bengough Esq.
- 1999-2002: Andrew Matheson Esq.
Private Secretaries
- 1937-1946: Lt Col Richard Streatfield
- 1946-1951: Maj Thomas Harvey
- 1951-1956: Capt Oliver Dawnay
- 1956-1993: Sir Martin Gilliat
- 1993-2002: Sir Alastair Aird
Assistant Private Secretaries
- 1953-1974: Lord Adam GordonLord Adam GordonMajor Lord Adam Granville Gordon, KCVO, MBE was a British royal courtier.Gordon was the second son of Lt.-Col. Douglas Gordon, who was later an equerry to the Duke of Connaught...
- 1955-1956: Martin Gilliat
- 1956-1959: The Hon Francis Legh
- 1959-1964: Sir Ralph AnstrutherSir Ralph Anstruther, 7th BaronetSir Ralph Anstruther, 7th Baronet, GCVO, MC, DL was a Scottish courtier.The only son of Captain Robert Edward Anstruther MC of the Black Watch only son of Sir Ralph William Anstruther, 6th Baronet, and Marguerite Blanche Lily de Burgh, he was educated at Eton and at Magdalene College,...
Bt - 1964-1973: Alastair Aird
- 1993-2002: Maj George Seymour
Treasurers
- 1937-1946: Sir Basil BrookeBasil Brooke, 1st Viscount BrookeboroughBasil Stanlake Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough, Bt, KG, CBE, MC, PC, HML was an Ulster Unionist politician who became the third Prime Minister of Northern Ireland in 1943 and held office until 1963....
- 1946-1960: Sir Arthur PennArthur Horace PennSir Arthur Horace Penn, GCVO, MC was a member of the Royal Household of the Queen Mother.Penn was the son of William Penn, of Taverham Hall, Norwich, where he was born in 1886. He was educated first at Eton, and later at Trinity College, Cambridge where he read law, and was called to the bar of...
- 1961-1998: Sir Ralph Anstruther Bt
- 1998-2002: The Hon Nicholas Assheton
Women of the Bedchamber
- 1937-1939: Lady Helen Graham
- 1937-1960: Lady Katharine Seymour
- 1937-1961: Marion Hyde, Lady Hyde
- 1937-1944: The Hon Lettice Bowlby
- 1939-?: Lady Adelaide Peel
- 1944-1947: Lady Mary Herbert
- 1947-2001: Lady Jean Rankin
- 1951-1961: The Hon Olivia Mulholland
- 1960-1993: The Rt Hon The Dowager Lady Fermoy
- 1961-1963: Lady Mary Harvey
- 1965-2002: Dame Frances Campbell-Preston
- 1981-2002: Lady Angela Oswald
Extra Women of the Bedchamber
- 1937-?: Lady Victoria Wemmys
- 1939-?: Lady Helen Graham
- 1944-?: The Hon Lettice Bowlby
- 1947-?: Lady Mary Herbert
- 1947: Lady Jean Rankin
- 1947-?: Alexandra Pelham, Lady WorsleyAlexandra Pelham, Lady WorsleyAlexandra Mary Freesia Pelham, née Vivian, Lady Worsley was a British volunteer and courtier.Alexandra was a daughter of the 3rd Baron Vivian and a godchild of Alexandra, Princess of Wales . Among her siblings were Hon. Dorothy Maud Alexandra Mary Freesia Pelham, née Vivian, Lady Worsley (27...
CBE - 1948-1951: Pamela Hore-Ruthven (later Cooper), Viscountess Ruthven of CanberraPamela CooperPamela Margaret Cooper was a British courtier, campaigner for refugees, and a supporter of the Palestinian people.-Biography:...
- 1956-1960: The Rt Hon The Dowager Lady Fermoy
- 1959-1981: Lady Elizabeth BassetLady Elizabeth BassetLady Elizabeth Basset, DCVO was born Lady Elizabeth Legge, the daughter of the 7th Earl of Dartmouth....
- 1960-?: Lady Katherine Seymour
Physicians
- 1936-?: George Frederick Still
- 1936-?: Sir John Weir
- 1936-?: Henry Letheby Tidy
- 1936-?: Daniel Thomas Davies
Surgeons
- 1936-?: Sir Lancelot Barrington-Ward
- 1936-1946: Arthur PorrittArthur Porritt, Baron Porritt- External links :* * *...
External links
- The Royal Household of HM The Queen, Official website of the British monarchy
- Prince of Wales Official Website
- Clarence House
- Llwynywormwood Estate, BBC news item 22 November 2006