Robert Fellowes, Baron Fellowes

Family background

Fellowes is the son of Scots Guards Major Sir William Fellowes, the Queen's Land Agent at Sandringham, and of his wife Jane Charlotte Ferguson, daughter of Brigadier-General Algernon Francis Holford Ferguson (great-grandfather of Sarah, Duchess of York). The Fellowes of Shotesham are an old country family, related to the Lords De Ramsey (senior branch). According to Michael Rhodes (a British genealogist specializing in the British aristocracy and landed gentry), "Lord De Ramsey descends from one Coulson Fellowes (1696-1769), and Lady Jane's husband, Lord Fellowes, descends from Coulson's younger brother, William, of Shotesham Park, Norfolk."

He is distantly related to actor and peer Julian Fellowes. They have a common ancestor William Fellowes, who lived in 1653.

Fellowes married Lady Jane Spencer, elder sister of Diana, Princess of Wales on 20 April 1978 at the Guards Chapel, when he was an Assistant Private Secretary to the Queen. The then-Lady Diana Spencer was a bridesmaid. They have three children, Laura Jane Fellowes, (born 19 July 1980), Alexander Robert Fellowes, (born 23 March 1983), and Eleanor Ruth Fellowes (born 20 August 1985). As well as being brother-in-law of Diana, Princess of Wales, he is also first cousin once removed of Sarah, Duchess of York through his mother, Jane.

Early career

Fellowes played cricket for Norfolk in the 1959 Minor Counties Championship, making one appearance each against Buckinghamshire and the Nottinghamshire Second XI. Fellowes was educated at Eton College and joined the Scots Guards in 1960 on a short service commission. After completion of service in 1963 he entered the banking industry, working for Allen Harvey and Ross Ltd, discount brokers and bankers, 1964–77. He was a managing director from 1968.

Royal service

In 1977 Fellowes was recruited to join the Royal Household as Assistant Private Secretary. He spent the next 20 years in the Private Secretary's Office, becoming Deputy in 1986, and Private Secretary in 1990.

Fellowes left his position in February 1999 to return to private banking, his retirement having been announced implicitly on 1 June 1998 when his successor Robin Janvrin was named. He was created a life peer on 12 July 1999 taking the title Baron Fellowes, of Shotesham in the County of Norfolk in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. He sits as a crossbench peer.

Lord Fellowes was introduced to the House of Lords and took his seat formally on 26 October 1999. According to reports from the House of Lords, Lord Fellowes remains technically a member of the Royal Household.

Return to private life

After retirement from the Royal Household, Lord Fellowes became Vice-Chairman, and then Chairman, of Barclays Private Banking. He is also a company director, and a trustee of the Rhodes Trust, the Mandela Rhodes Foundation and the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth Institute. He was Chairman of The Voices Foundation from 2004 until 2012. He became Chair of the Prison Reform Trust in 2001.

Honours and decorations

Besides his life peerage, Lord Fellowes has received the following honours:

Styles of address

He was made a Privy Counsellor (PC) in 1990.

He remains the Secretary and Registrar of the Order of Merit as of 19 July 2016.

Children

1. The Honourable Laura Jane Fellowes b. 19 July 1980.

2. The Honourable Alexander Robert Fellowes b. 23 March 1983, became a fourth year Classicist at Trinity College, Oxford, was educated at Eton College like his father, maternal uncle and his royal cousins. He became President of the Claret Club, an Old Etonian Society. He made news for arranging and attending a Bullingdon Club dinner at which 17 bottles of wine, crockery and a window were smashed at the 15th-century White Hart pub in Fyfield, Oxfordshire.The local magistrate described Fellowes' behaviour as "outrageous and unacceptable". Four of their members were arrested.

3. The Honourable Eleanor Ruth Fellowes b. 20 Aug 1985.