Monarch George VIElizabeth II Name Alan Lascelles | Succeeded by Shuldham Redfern | |
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Preceded by Alexander Hardinge, 2nd Baron Hardinge of Penshurst Books End of an era, King's Counsellor: Abdication and War : the Diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles Education Died 10 August 1981 (aged 94) Kensington, London, England Born 11 April 1887 (age 94) Sutton Waldron, Dorset, England Similar Edward VIII, Elizabeth II, George VI | ||
Wedding of daughter of sir alan lascelles the king s private secretary aka society wedding 1949
Sir Alan Frederick "Tommy" Lascelles (; 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".
Contents
- Wedding of daughter of sir alan lascelles the king s private secretary aka society wedding 1949
- Kings Counsellor Abdication and War The Diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles Duff Hart Davis ed
- Early life and education
- Career
- Service to King George V and VI
- Personal life
- Death
- In popular culture
- References
King's Counsellor: Abdication and War - The Diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles (Duff Hart-Davis, ed.)
Early life and education
Lascelles was known to his intimates as "Tommy". He was born on 11 April 1887 in the village of Sutton Waldron in Dorset, England, the son of Commander 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, Princess Royal, sister of his employers, Edward VIII and George VI.
After attending school at Marlborough College, followed by 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.
Career
Lascelles 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.
Service to King George V and VI
Lascelles became the Assistant Private Secretary to King George V in 1935.
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 became private secretary to King George VI, some time after the new king's accession.
Lascelles 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.
In 1943, Lascelles 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.
Lascelles was also Keeper of the Royal Archives from 1943 to 1953.
Lascelles's papers are now held in the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College, Cambridge.
Personal life
On 16 March 1920, Lascelles married Joan Frances Vere Thesiger (1895–1971).
They had three children:
Death
Lascelles died in 1981 at the age of 94.
In popular culture
Lascelles's mother Frederica Liddell was related to Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland". He is portrayed by Pip Torrens in the Netflix series The Crown.