Alan Lascelles

Captain The Right Honourable
Sir Alan Lascelles
GCB GCVO CMG MC

Lascelles in 1943
Private Secretary to the Sovereign
In office
1943–1953
Monarch George VI
Elizabeth II
Preceded by Alexander Hardinge, 2nd Baron Hardinge of Penshurst
Succeeded by Sir Michael Adeane
Secretary to the Governor General of Canada
In office
1931–1935
Governor General Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough
Succeeded by Shuldham Redfern
Personal details
Born (1887-04-11)11 April 1887
Died 10 August 1981(1981-08-10) (aged 94)
Nationality British
Alma mater Trinity College, Oxford

Sir Alan Frederick "Tommy" Lascelles GCB GCVO CMG MC (11 April 1887 – 10 August 1981) was a British courtier and civil servant who held several positions in the first half of the twentieth century, culminating in his position as Private Secretary to both King George VI and to Queen Elizabeth II. He wrote the Lascelles Principles in a 1950 letter to the editor of The Times, using the pen-name "Senex".

Life

Lascelles (usually pronounced to rhyme with "tassels") was known to his intimates as "Tommy." He was born the son of Commander The Hon. Frederick Canning Lascelles and Frederica Maria Liddell, and the grandson of Henry Lascelles, 4th Earl of Harewood. He was thus a cousin of Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood, who married Mary, the Princess Royal, sister of Alan's employers, Edward VIII and George VI.

After schooling at Marlborough College and Trinity College, Oxford, Lascelles served in France with the Bedfordshire Yeomanry during the First World War, after which he became the Aide-de-Camp to his brother-in-law Lord Lloyd, the Governor of Bombay from 1919 to 1920.

He then returned to England and was appointed Assistant Private Secretary to Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1920, serving in that role until he resigned in 1929, citing differences with the prince. From 1931 to 1935 he was Secretary to the Governor General of Canada.

He became the Assistant Private Secretary to King George V.

When the Prince of Wales ascended to the throne as King Edward VIII, upon the death of King George V, in January 1936, Lascelles served briefly as the new King's private secretary. Then, when Edward VIII abdicated in December 1936, Lascelles then became private secretary to King George VI, some time after the new king's ascension.[1]

He was knighted by King George VI, while aboard a train, during the highly successful 1939 royal tour of Canada and the United States, which he had helped to arrange and manage.[2]

In 1943 he was promoted to Private Secretary to King George VI. In 1952 he became Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, a role he held until 1953.

He was also Keeper of the Royal Archives from 1943 to 1953.

His papers are now held in the Churchill Archives Centre, in Great Britain.

He died at the age of 94.

Family

On 16 March 1920 he married Joan Frances Vere Thesiger (1895–1971).

They had three children:

Honours and awards

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB)
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG)
Military Cross (MC)
1914–15 Star
British War Medal
Victory Medal with palm for Mentioned in Dispatches
King George V Silver Jubilee Medal (1935)
King George VI Coronation Medal (1937)
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (1953)
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (France)

References

  1. King's Counsellor, 2006
  2. King's Counselor, 2006

Further reading

References

Court offices
Preceded by
Sir Alexander Hardinge
Private Secretary to the Sovereign
19431953
Succeeded by
Michael Adeane


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