Alan Lascelles
Encyclopedia
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".
. 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 Lord Lloyd, the Governor of Bombay from 1919 to 1920.
He then returned to England
and was appointed Assistant Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales
. From 1931 to 1935 he was Secretary to the Governor General of Canada
. He became the Assistant Private Secretary to King George V
and later King George VI
in 1935, and in 1942 rose 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 Archive Centre, in Great Britain
.
He died at the age of 94.
They had three children:
Order of the Bath
The 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
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...
, CMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The 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....
, MC
Military Cross
The 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....
(11 April 1887 – 10 August 1981) was a British
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...
courtier and civil servant who held several positions in the first half of the twentieth century, culminating in his position as Private Secretary
Private 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...
to both King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
and to Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
. He wrote the Lascelles Principles
Lascelles Principles
The Lascelles Principles are a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom under which the Sovereign could wisely refuse a request of the Prime Minister to dissolve Parliament, if the existing Parliament is "still vital, viable, and capable of doing its job", if "a General Election would be...
in a 1950 letter to the editor of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, 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 HarewoodHenry Lascelles, 4th Earl of Harewood
Henry Thynne Lascelles, 4th Earl of Harewood was a British peer and the son of Henry Lascelles, 3rd Earl of Harewood....
. He was thus a cousin of Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood
Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood
Henry George Charles Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood KG GCVO DSO TD , styled The Hon. Henry Lascelles before 1892 and Viscount Lascelles between 1892 and 1929, was the son of the 5th Earl of Harewood and Lady Florence Bridgeman.Lascelles was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards and commanded the...
, who married Mary, the Princess Royal
Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood
The Princess Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood was a member of the British Royal Family; she was the third child and only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary. She was the sixth holder of the title of Princess Royal...
, sister of Alan's employers Edward VIII
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...
and George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
.
After schooling at Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
and Trinity College
Trinity College, Oxford
The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, Lascelles served in France with the Bedfordshire Yeomanry
Bedfordshire Yeomanry
Bedfordshire Yeomanry, a unit of the British Army originally raised in 1797 as a body of independent troops, the Bedfordshire Yeomanry Cavalry was disbanded after the Napoleonic Wars and briefly reformed from 1817 to 1827....
during the First World War, after which he became the Aide-de-Camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to Lord Lloyd, the Governor of Bombay from 1919 to 1920.
He then returned to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and was appointed Assistant Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales
Prince 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...
. From 1931 to 1935 he was Secretary to the Governor General of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He became the Assistant Private Secretary to King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
and later King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
in 1935, and in 1942 rose to Private Secretary to King George VI. In 1952 he became Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
, a role he held until 1953.
He was also Keeper of the Royal Archives
Keeper of the Royal Archives
The Keeper of the Royal Archives is responsible for the papers held in the Royal Archives, and is accountable to The Queen.Since 1945, the office of Keeper of the Royal Archives in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom has been held concurrently with that of Private Secretary...
from 1943 to 1953.
His papers are now held in the Churchill Archive Centre, in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
He died at the age of 94.
Family
On 16 March 1920 he married Joan Frances Vere Thesiger.They had three children:
- John Frederick Lascelles (born 11 June 1922, died 11 September 1951)
- Lavinia Joan Lascelles (born 27 June 1923, married Major Edward Westland Renton); then briefly, to the writer, Gavin Maxwell
- Caroline Mary Lascelles (born 15 February 1927, married Antony Alfred Lyttelton 2nd Viscount Chandos); then to David Erskine
Further reading
- The Papers of Sir Alan Lascelles, Repository Churchill Archives Centre
- "End of an era: letters and journals of Sir Alan Lascelles 1887-1920" (Hamish HamiltonHamish HamiltonHamish Hamilton Limited was a British book publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half-Scot half-American Jamie Hamilton . Confusingly, Jamie Hamilton was often referred to as Hamish Hamilton...
, London. 1986) edited by Duff Hart-DavisDuff Hart-DavisPeter Duff Hart-Davis , generally known as Duff Hart-Davis, is a British biographer, naturalist and journalist, who writes for The Independent newspaper. He is married to Phyllida Barstow and has one son and one daughter, the journalist Alice Hart-Davis...
. - "In Royal Service: the Letters and Journals of Sir Alan Lascelles 1920-1936" (Hamish Hamilton, London. 1989) edited by Duff Hart-Davis.
- " King's Counsellor: Abdication and War: the Diaries of Tommy Lascelles" (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London. 2006) edited by Duff Hart-Davis.