Lieutenant-Colonel

Lieutenant-Colonel (UK)

Lieutenant colonel is a rank in the British Army and Royal Marines which is also used in many Commonwealth countries. The rank is superior to major, and subordinate to colonel...

 Sir Piers "Joey" Walter Legh 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...

 KCB

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...

 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....

 CIE

Order of the Indian Empire

The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...

 OBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (12 December 1890–16 October 1955) 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...

 soldier and a member of the Royal Household

Royal Household

A Royal Household in ancient and medieval monarchies formed the basis for the general government of the country as well as providing for the needs of the sovereign and his relations....

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The second son of the 2nd Baron Newton

Thomas Legh, 2nd Baron Newton

Thomas Wodehouse Legh, 2nd Baron Newton PC, DL , was a British diplomat and Conservative politician who served as Paymaster-General during the First World War.-Background and education:...

, Legh was educated at Eton

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 and afterwards joined the Grenadier Guards

Grenadier Guards

The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...

. He was a military secretary

Military Secretary

The Military Secretary is the British Army appointment of which the incumbent is responsible for policy direction on personnel management for members of the British Army. It is a senior British Army appointment, held by an officer holding the rank of Major-General. The Military Secretary's...

 during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and was mentioned in despatches. In 1919, he became an equerry

Equerry

An equerry , and related to the French word "écuyer" ) is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually upon a Sovereign, a member of a Royal Family, or a national...

 to The Prince of Wales

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...

 until 1936 and then to 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...

 from 1937–46 (and also an extra equerry from 1946–55). In 1941, he became Master of the Household

Master of the Household

The Master of the Household is the operational head of the "below stairs" elements of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom...

, a post he held until his retirement in 1953. On 15 November 1920, he married Sarah Polk Shaughnessy (d. 1955, née Bradford), the widow of Capt. Hon. Alfred Shaughnessy and they had one daughter, Diana Evelyn (b. 1924), who married the 4th Earl of Kimberley

John Wodehouse, 4th Earl of Kimberley

John Wodehouse, 4th Earl of Kimberley was the oft-married Earl of Kimberley from 1941 to 2002. He inherited the title when his father, John Wodehouse, 3rd Earl of Kimberley, was killed in an air raid...

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