Richard Luce, Baron Luce
Encyclopedia
Richard Napier Luce, Baron Luce, (born 14 October 1936) was Lord Chamberlain
to HM The Queen
from 2000 to 2006, and was previously Governor of Gibraltar
and a Conservative
Member of Parliament
(MP) and Government Minister.
, Luce was educated at Wellington College, and Christ's College, Cambridge
. He completed National Service
in Cyprus
1955-57. He then briefly joined the Overseas Civil Service
, first as a district officer in Kenya
, 1960-62. He then worked for Gallaher Ltd
as a brand manager (1963-65), before becoming marketing manager for the Spirella
Company of Great Britain. In 1968-71 he was director
of the National Innovation Centre.
From 1972 to 1979, he was Chairman of IFA Consultants Ltd, he was also chair of Selenex Ltd (1973-79), and of Courtenay Stewart International (1975-79).
as Member of Parliament
(MP) for Arundel and Shoreham
in a by-election
in 1971. When that constituency was abolished in boundary changes for the February 1974 general election
, he was returned for the new Shoreham
constituency. He retired from the Commons at the 1992 general election
.
to the Minister of Trade and Consumer Affairs in 1972. After the Conservative Party lost the February 1974 general election
, he became an Opposition
whip
.
When the Conservatives returned to power at the 1979 general election
, he became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
. In 1981, he was promoted to Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
within the same department
. In 1982, he followed his Secretary of State, Lord Carrington
, in resigning over the Argentinian invasion
of the Falkland Islands
. Some blamed Luce for having given the wrong indications to the Argentinians, leading them to believe that the UK would not respond to the invasion. However he returned to office in 1983, again as a Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In 1985, he was moved to the Privy Council Office
as Minister for the Arts
, which was his last ministerial office. He resigned in 1990.
Lord Luce was knighted
in 1991, and was made a Privy Counsellor in 1986.
between 1992-96. In 1997, he was appointed Governor of Gibraltar
, an office he held until 2000, when he was created a Life Peer
as Baron Luce, of Adur in the County of West Sussex
. In 2000 he was invested as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
(GCVO) and became Lord Chamberlain
in HM The Queen's
Royal Household
.
Lord Luce relinquished the post of Lord Chamberlain on 11 October 2006. He was succeeded by The Rt Hon. The Earl Peel
. The post of Lord Chamberlain entailed Lord Luce being involved in any official functions and state events, and if and when there was a e.g. a Royal wedding the Lord Chamberlain would organise such occasions.
Lord Luce was created a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter
(KG) on 22 April 2008. The Order of the Garter is the highest Order of Chivalry in the United Kingdom and is in the personal bestowal of HM The Queen. The membership of the Order of the Garter is limited to 24 at any one time, and this number excludes the British Royal Family
and foreign Royal Families who are members. The Order currently includes two former British Prime Ministers
; Lady Thatcher
and Sir John Major
as well as numerous British government ministers and senior members of the Royal Household
similarly.
Lord Luce is President of the Voluntary Arts Network
.
Luce has two sons, The Hon. Alexander Luce and The Hon. Edward Luce
.
in the 2002 BBC
production of Ian Curteis
's controversial The Falklands Play
.
Lord Luce is the uncle of actress and comedienne Miranda Hart
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
to HM The Queen
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,...
from 2000 to 2006, and was previously Governor of Gibraltar
Governor of Gibraltar
The Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The Governor is appointed by the British Monarch on the advice of the British Government...
and a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) and Government Minister.
Early career
Born in WestminsterCity of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
, Luce was educated at Wellington College, and Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
. He completed National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
1955-57. He then briefly joined the Overseas Civil Service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
, first as a district officer in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, 1960-62. He then worked for Gallaher Ltd
Gallaher Group
Gallaher Group is a major United Kingdom-based multinational tobacco company. It was traded on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, prior to its April 2007 acquisition by Japan Tobacco.-History:...
as a brand manager (1963-65), before becoming marketing manager for the Spirella
Spirella
Spirella was a company which manufactured made-to-measure corsets. It was founded on a patent of dressbone, for bustles , but started corset manufacture in 1904. At its height it had factories in the USA , the UK and Sweden...
Company of Great Britain. In 1968-71 he was director
Executive director
Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...
of the National Innovation Centre.
From 1972 to 1979, he was Chairman of IFA Consultants Ltd, he was also chair of Selenex Ltd (1973-79), and of Courtenay Stewart International (1975-79).
Political career
Lord Luce was first elected to the House of CommonsBritish House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Arundel and Shoreham
Arundel and Shoreham (UK Parliament constituency)
Arundel and Shoreham was a borough constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It was created for the 1950 general election, and abolished for the February 1974 general election, when it was divided to create the constituencies of Arundel and Shoreham.-Members of...
in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in 1971. When that constituency was abolished in boundary changes for the February 1974 general election
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
, he was returned for the new Shoreham
Shoreham (UK Parliament constituency)
Shoreham was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1974 to 1997....
constituency. He retired from the Commons at the 1992 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
.
In parliament
Lord Luce was appointed the Parliamentary Private SecretaryParliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to the Minister of Trade and Consumer Affairs in 1972. After the Conservative Party lost the February 1974 general election
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
, he became an Opposition
Opposition (parliamentary)
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state...
whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
.
When the Conservatives returned to power at the 1979 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
, he became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
. In 1981, he was promoted to Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs is a junior ministerial position in the British government.-Ministers of State for Foreign Affairs 1945-1968:*1945: William Mabane*1945-1946: Philip Noel-Baker*1946-1950: Hector McNeil*1950-1951: Kenneth Younger...
within the same department
Ministry (government department)
A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...
. In 1982, he followed his Secretary of State, Lord Carrington
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982 and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir...
, in resigning over the Argentinian invasion
1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands
On 2 April 1982, Argentine forces mounted amphibious landings of the Falkland Islands . The invasion involved an initial defence force organised by the Falkland Islands' Governor Sir Rex Hunt giving command to Major Mike Norman of the Royal Marines, the landing of Lieutenant-Commander Guillermo...
of the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
. Some blamed Luce for having given the wrong indications to the Argentinians, leading them to believe that the UK would not respond to the invasion. However he returned to office in 1983, again as a Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In 1985, he was moved to the Privy Council Office
Privy Council Office (United Kingdom)
The Privy Council Office provides secretarial and administrative support to the Lord President of the Council in his or her capacity of president of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council. The head of the Office is the Clerk of the Privy Council...
as Minister for the Arts
Minister for the Arts
In the United Kingdom government, the Minister for the Arts is a ministerial post, usually a low to middle-ranking minister to the much senior Secretary of State, who runs the entire department and is ultimately responsibility for the department's brief....
, which was his last ministerial office. He resigned in 1990.
Lord Luce was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in 1991, and was made a Privy Counsellor in 1986.
After the Commons
Lord Luce was also Vice-Chancellor of the University of BuckinghamUniversity of Buckingham
The University of Buckingham is an independent, non-sectarian, research and teaching university located in Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Great Ouse. It was originally founded as Buckingham University College in the 1970s and received its Royal Charter from the...
between 1992-96. In 1997, he was appointed Governor of Gibraltar
Governor of Gibraltar
The Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The Governor is appointed by the British Monarch on the advice of the British Government...
, an office he held until 2000, when he was created a Life Peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
as Baron Luce, of Adur in the County of West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
. In 2000 he was invested as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
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...
(GCVO) and became Lord Chamberlain
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
in HM The Queen's
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,...
Royal Household
Royal Households of the United Kingdom
The Royal Households of the United Kingdom are the organised offices and support systems for the British Royal Family, along with their immediate families...
.
Lord Luce relinquished the post of Lord Chamberlain on 11 October 2006. He was succeeded by The Rt Hon. The Earl Peel
William Peel, 3rd Earl Peel
William James Robert Peel, 3rd Earl Peel GCVO, PC, DL , styled Viscount Clanfield until 1969, is a cross-bench member of the House of Lords and Lord Chamberlain of the Royal Household.-Background and education:...
. The post of Lord Chamberlain entailed Lord Luce being involved in any official functions and state events, and if and when there was a e.g. a Royal wedding the Lord Chamberlain would organise such occasions.
Lord Luce was created a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
(KG) on 22 April 2008. The Order of the Garter is the highest Order of Chivalry in the United Kingdom and is in the personal bestowal of HM The Queen. The membership of the Order of the Garter is limited to 24 at any one time, and this number excludes the British Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
and foreign Royal Families who are members. The Order currently includes two former British Prime Ministers
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
; Lady Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
and Sir John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
as well as numerous British government ministers and senior members of the Royal Household
Royal Households of the United Kingdom
The Royal Households of the United Kingdom are the organised offices and support systems for the British Royal Family, along with their immediate families...
similarly.
Lord Luce is President of the Voluntary Arts Network
Voluntary Arts Network
The Voluntary Arts Network is the UK and Republic of Ireland development agency for voluntary arts and crafts participation. It recognises that these activities are a key part of our culture and as such they are absolutely vital to our health, social and economic development.By providing...
.
Luce has two sons, The Hon. Alexander Luce and The Hon. Edward Luce
Edward Luce
Edward Luce is the Washington bureau chief of the Financial Times, London. Earlier he was their South Asia Bureau Chief based at New Delhi. He is married to Priya Basu...
.
In popular culture
Lord Luce was portrayed by Jonathan CoyJonathan Coy
Jonathan Coy is a British actor born in Hammersmith, London on 24 April 1953. He has worked since 1975 largely in television, notably as Henry in the long running legal series Rumpole and as Bracegirdle in the television series Hornblower, adapted from the books by C. S. Forester...
in the 2002 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
production of Ian Curteis
Ian Curteis
Ian Bayley Curteis is a British television dramatist and former television director.In a career as a television dramatist from the late 1960s onwards, Curteis wrote for many of the series of the day, including The Onedin Line and Crown Court. In 1979, two television plays by Curteis were...
's controversial The Falklands Play
The Falklands Play
The Falklands Play is a dramatic account of the political events leading up to, and including, the 1982 Falklands War. The play was written by Ian Curteis, an experienced writer who had started his television career in drama, but had increasingly come to specialise in dramatic reconstructions of...
.
Lord Luce is the uncle of actress and comedienne Miranda Hart
Miranda Hart
Miranda Katharine Hart Dyke , known professionally as Miranda Hart, is an English actress, writer and stand-up comedienne. She writes and stars in the BBC sitcom Miranda...