Name William 3rd | Role Politician | |
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Relations William Waldorf Astor (grandfather)Chiswell Dabney Langhorne (grandfather)John Jacob Astor V (uncle)Robert Gould Shaw III (half-brother)Francis David Langhorne Astor (brother)Michael Langhorne AstorJohn Jacob Astor VII (brother) Parents Waldorf AstorNancy Witcher Langhorne Occupation businessman, politician Spouse Bronwen Astor (m. 1960), Kathleen Norton (m. 1945) Children William Astor, 4th Viscount Astor, Janet Gordon-Lennox, Countess of March and Kinrara Siblings David Astor, Michael Astor, Jakie Astor Similar People Nancy Astor - Viscounte, William Astor - 4th Viscount, Waldorf Astor - 2nd Viscount, William Waldorf Astor - 1st, David Astor | ||
William Waldorf Astor II, 3rd Viscount Astor (13 August 1907 – 7 March 1966) was an English businessman and Conservative Party politician. He was also a member of the Astor family.
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Background and education
William was the eldest son of Waldorf Astor and Nancy Witcher Langhorne. He was educated at Eton and at New College, Oxford.
Political career
In 1932, Astor was appointed secretary to The 2nd Earl of Lytton, League of Nations Committee of Enquiry in what was then known as Manchuria. First elected to the House of Commons in 1935, he served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Fulham East until 1945. Between 1936 and 1937 he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty Sir Samuel Hoare, who was then made Secretary of State for the Home Department in the new cabinet of Neville Chamberlain in 1937.
Astor left Parliament for a time, but returned as the Conservative MP for Wycombe in the 1951 general election, serving for ten months. On his father's death in 1952, he inherited his title, becoming The 3rd Viscount Astor. Lord Astor took his seat in the House of Lords, forcing a by-election in Wycombe, which was won by the Conservative candidate John Hall. During the 1963 Profumo Affair Astor was accused of having an affair with Mandy Rice-Davies. In response to being told during one of the trials arising out of the scandal that Astor had denied having an affair with her, Rice-Davies famously replied "He would, wouldn't he?"
Astor then took over the family's Cliveden estate in Buckinghamshire, where he and his family continued to live until 1966. Active in thoroughbred horse racing, he inherited Cliveden Stud, a horse farm and breeding operation in the village of Taplow near Maidenhead.
Marriages and children
Viscount Astor married three times:
William married The Honourable Sarah Kathleen Elinor Norton (20 January 1920-4 February 2013; daughter of Richard, 6th Baron Grantley) on 14 June 1945 and they were divorced in 1953. They have one son three grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren:
William remarried Phillipa Victoria Hunloke (10 December 1930-20 July 2005) (maternal grandfather was The 9th Duke of Devonshire) on 26 April 1955 and they were divorced on 3 June 1960. They have one daughter and four grandchildren:
William Astor remarried, finally Janet Bronwen Alun Pugh on 14 October 1960. They have two daughters and seven grandchildren:
Astor died in Nassau, Bahamas, at age 58 from a heart attack and was buried in the Octagon Temple at Cliveden. His son succeeded him in the viscountcy.