Alan Lascelles

CMG MC
CMG MC
	Lascelles in 1943
Private Secretary to the Sovereign
	In office; 1943–1953
Monarchs	George VI; Elizabeth II;
Preceded by	Sir Alexander Hardinge
Succeeded by	Sir Michael Adeane
Assistant Private Secretary to the Sovereign
	In office; 1935–1943
Monarchs	George V; Edward VIII; George VI;
Secretary to the Governor General of Canada
	In office; 1931–1935
Governor General	The Earl of Bessborough
Preceded by	Sir Eric Miéville
Succeeded by	Shuldham Redfern
Personal details
Born	11 April 1887; Sutton Waldron, Dorset, England
Died	10 August 1981 (aged 94); Kensington, London, England
Spouse	Joan Frances Vere Thesiger (m. 1920; died 1971)
Children	3
Relatives	First World War Western Front;
Awards	Military Cross

Sir Alan Frederick "Tommy" Lascelles,

Senex

".

Early life and education

Lascelles was born on 11 April 1887 in the village of Sutton Waldron in Dorset, England, the sixth and youngest child and only surviving son of Commander Frederick Canning Lascelles and Frederica Maria Liddell, and the grandson of Henry Lascelles, 4th Earl of Harewood.^[1]^[2] He was thus a cousin of Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood, who married Mary, Princess Royal, sister of his employers, Edward VIII and George VI. His mother was the daughter of Sir Adolphus Liddell, son of Thomas Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth.^[3]

After attending

Governor of Bombay

from 1919 to 1920.

Career

Lascelles then returned to Britain and was appointed Assistant Private Secretary to Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1920, serving in that role until resigning in despair in 1929, citing differences with the prince.^[5]

From 1931 to 1935, he was Secretary to the Governor General of Canada, Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough.

Lascelles then became the Assistant Private Secretary to

George V in the latter months of 1935.^[6]

When the Prince of Wales ascended the throne as Edward VIII on the death of George V in January 1936, Lascelles served briefly as the new King's Assistant Private Secretary, although he never saw the King during this phase.[5] ^[7]

When Edward VIII abdicated in December 1936, Lascelles became Assistant Private Secretary to George VI, some time after the new king's accession.^[8]: So he did not resign again, but soldiered on through Edward's short reign and the protracted crisis of the abdication in 1936. He had been deeply shocked by the abdication, not dreaming until it was announced that it would happen, and the evening he heard of it he was so stunned that he went out and walked 3 times round St James Park in the darkness, thinking of James II .^[5]

In 1936 he became Assistant Private Secretary to King George VI.^[5]

Lascelles was knighted by George VI, while aboard a train, during the

Privy Council, entitling him to the prefix "Right Honourable", in 1943.^[9]

In 1943, Lascelles was promoted from Assistant Private Secretary to George VI to his Private Secretary, after effecting the forced resignation of

Alec Hardinge, and served until the King's death in 1952. In 1952 he became Private Secretary to Elizabeth II, a role he held until the end of 1953, so overseeing the early days of her reign and the Coronation.^[5]

Lascelles was also Keeper of the Royal Archives from 1943 to 1953.^{[citation needed]}

He retired from his 27 years of royal service on the last day of 1953, at the age of 66.

Sir Winston Churchill twice and by the Queen once whether he would like to go to the House of Lords with a hereditary peerage but he declined.^[11] He did, however, accept appointment as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath which, he said, "rated much higher than a peerage".^[11]

In 1955 Lascelles was very supportive of James Pope-Hennessy's commission to write an official biography of Queen Mary, although initially he wondered why and by whom this unknown young writer had been commissioned. Lascelles was a crucial witness for many key events, e.g. the abdication of Edward VIII. When the book passed the royal censors, Lascelles was livid that Pope-Hennessy phoned him with the news rather than coming round with the good news in person. ^[12]

Lascelles's papers are now held in the

Churchill College, Cambridge.^[13]

Personal life

On 16 March 1920, Lascelles married Joan Frances Vere Thesiger (1895–1971), daughter of

Viceroy of India and First Lord of the Admiralty.^[9]

They had three children:

John Frederick Lascelles, born 11 June 1922, died 11 September 1951.

Lavinia Joan Lascelles, born 27 June 1923, died 3 November 2020; married to Major Edward Westland Renton, divorced 1960, then 1962–64 to the writer Gavin Maxwell, and to David Hankinson in 1969.^[14]
Caroline Mary Lascelles, born 15 February 1927; married 1949 to Antony Lyttelton, 2nd Viscount Chandos; then 1985 to David Erskine, son of Lord Erskine.

Lascelles died on 10 August 1981 at Kensington Palace at the age of 94.

Honours and awards

	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB)
	Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)
	Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG)
	Military Cross (MC)	(1919)
	1914–15 Star
	British War Medal
	Victory Medal	with palm for Mentioned in Dispatches
	King George V Silver Jubilee Medal	(1935)
	King George VI Coronation Medal	(1937)
	Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal	(1953)
	Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour	(France)

He also received the Royal Household Long and Faithful Service Medal.

In popular culture

Lascelles is portrayed by Paul Brooke in the 2002 film Bertie and Elizabeth and Pip Torrens in the 2016 Netflix series The Crown.

Bibliography

Lascelles, Alan (1986).
ISBN 978-0-241-11960-0
.

——— (1989).
ISBN 978-0-241-12562-5
.

——— (2006).

ISBN 978-0-297-85155-4

.

The Quest for Queen Mary (2018),; James Pope-Hennessy, edited and with text by Hugo Vickers

References

^ Rose, Kenneth (17 December 2006). "A most devoted subject and a most exacting critic". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012.
^ Prochaska 2004.
^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 2004.
^ "No. 31092". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1918. p. 27.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Pope-Hennessy 2018, pp. 17, 18.
^ Lascelles 2006, p. 20.
^ About his opinion on this monarch, see The scandalous life of a 'dashing and unreliable' king, BBC REEL, 5 OCTOBER 2023.
^ Lascelles 2006, p. 22
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Who's Who: Lascelles, Alan.
^ Lascelles 2006, p. 28: "The King, giggling in a most disarming fashion, knighted me in the train tonight, as the train was approaching Buffalo. I think I can fairly claim to be the first man to be dubbed in a train, and also the first Englishman to be so treated by his Sovereign on American soil; so the episode has, at any rate, some historic interest."
^ ^a ^b ^c Lascelles 2006.
^ Pope-Hennessy 2018, pp. 14, 17, 23–26.
^ "The Papers of Sir Alan Lascelles | ArchiveSearch". archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
^ "Lavinia Hankinson, courtier's daughter and opera singer briefly married to Gavin Maxwell – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 8 January 2021. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021.

Sources

Pope-Hennessy, James (2018). Vickers, Hugo (ed.). The Quest for Queen Mary.
Prochaska, Frank (2004). "Lascelles, Sir Alan Frederick (1887-1981), Courtier". In
ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8
.

Lascelles, Rt. Hon. Sir Alan Frederick, (11 April 1887–10 Aug. 1981), Past Director: The Midland Bank; Royal Academy of Music; Private Secretary to the Queen, 1952–53; Keeper of the Queen’s Archives, 1952–53 (of the King’s Archives, 1943–52), doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U166201 Who's Who

External links

The Papers of Sir Alan Lascelles at the Churchill Archives Centre

Government offices
Preceded by Sir Eric Miéville	Secretary to the Governor General of Canada 1931–1935	Succeeded by Shuldham Redfern
Court offices
Preceded by Sir Alexander Hardinge	Private Secretary to the Sovereign 1943–1953	Succeeded by Michael Adeane

[1] Rose, Kenneth (17 December 2006). "A most devoted subject and a most exacting critic". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012.

[FOOTNOTEProchaska2004-2] Prochaska 2004.

[3] Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 2004.

[4] "No. 31092". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1918. p. 27.

[FOOTNOTEPope-Hennessy201817,_18-5] Pope-Hennessy 2018, pp. 17, 18.

[FOOTNOTELascelles200620-6] Lascelles 2006, p. 20.

[7] About his opinion on this monarch, see The scandalous life of a 'dashing and unreliable' king, BBC REEL, 5 OCTOBER 2023.

[FOOTNOTELascelles200622-8] Lascelles 2006, p. 22

[:0-9] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Who's Who: Lascelles, Alan.

[FOOTNOTELascelles200628-10] Lascelles 2006, p. 28: "The King, giggling in a most disarming fashion, knighted me in the train tonight, as the train was approaching Buffalo. I think I can fairly claim to be the first man to be dubbed in a train, and also the first Englishman to be so treated by his Sovereign on American soil; so the episode has, at any rate, some historic interest."

[FOOTNOTELascelles2006-11] Lascelles 2006.

[FOOTNOTEPope-Hennessy201814,_17,_23–26-12] Pope-Hennessy 2018, pp. 14, 17, 23–26.

[13] "The Papers of Sir Alan Lascelles | ArchiveSearch". archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 October 2021.

[14] "Lavinia Hankinson, courtier's daughter and opera singer briefly married to Gavin Maxwell – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 8 January 2021. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021.

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