Nicholas Eden, 2nd Earl of Avon

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Hereditary Peerage
Preceded byThe 1st Earl of Avon
Succeeded byEarldom extinct
Personal details
Born
Nicholas Eden

(1930-10-03)3 October 1930
Died17 August 1985(1985-08-17) (aged 54)
London, England
Political partyConservative
Parent(s)Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon
Beatrice Beckett

Nicholas Eden, 2nd Earl of Avon,

DL (3 October 1930 – 17 August 1985), styled Viscount Eden between 1961 and 1977, was a British Army officer and, later, a Conservative politician. He was the younger son of Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden and his first wife, Beatrice
(née Beckett).

Career

Eden was educated at Ludgrove School[1] and Eton College.[2] Called up for National Service, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the

Territorial Army commission with effect from 6 August 1953, in the same rank (seniority from 20 May 1950), and was promoted to acting lieutenant from the same date (seniority from 17 January 1952).[4] He served as ADC to the Governor General of Canada from 1952 to 1953.[2] He was promoted to acting captain on 1 March 1956,[5] to the substantive rank on 3 October 1957 (seniority from 1 March 1956),[6] to acting major on 1 November 1959 and to substantive major on 3 October 1964 (seniority from 1 November 1959.[7][8] He was awarded the Territorial Decoration (TD) in 1965[2] and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1970 New Year Honours for his military service. Regimentally within the Territorial Army he served from 1953 with Queen Victoria's Rifles and from 1961 to 1970 its successor the Queen's Royal Rifles.[2] He was appointed an ADC (TAVR) to the Queen in 1978.[2]

He was appointed a

Greater London county in 1973 and Vice Chairman of the Greater London TAVR Association.[2]

Eden succeeded to the earldom on the death of his father in 1977, his elder brother

Burma.[9]

Government service

Having risen to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the

North Atlantic Assembly from 1979,[2] a Lord-in-waiting from 1980 to 1983, as Under-Secretary of State for Energy from 1983 to 1984 and as Under-Secretary of State for the Environment from 1984 until his resignation because of ill health in March 1985, shortly before his death.[10]

Personal life

Widely known to have been homosexual,

The News of the World identified a man "listed as authorizing cremation of Avon’s body as an antiques dealer who lived with Avon in Holland Park."[12]

The character of Peter Morton in the 1992 film Peter's Friends is said to have been partly inspired by Lord Avon.[13][14]

Arms

Coat of arms of Nicholas Eden, 2nd Earl of Avon
Crest
A dexter arm in armour embowed couped at the shoulder Proper the hand grasping a Garb also Proper.
Escutcheon
Gules on a chevron Argent between three garbs Or banded Vert as many escallops Sable
Supporters
On the dexter side a leopard guardant Or resting the sinister hind paw on a garb Or banded Vert and on the sinister side a like leopard resting the dexter hind paw on a similar garb.
Motto
Si Sit Prudentia (If There Be But Prudence)
Orders
Order of the British Empire (not pictured)

References

  1. ^ Barber, Richard. The Story of Ludgrove.
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-905649-38-9
    .
  3. ^ "No. 38978". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 July 1950. p. 3866.
  4. ^ "No. 40663". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 December 1955. p. 7274.
  5. ^ "No. 40796". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1956. p. 3298.
  6. ^ "No. 41216". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 November 1957. p. 6399.
  7. ^ "No. 41858". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 October 1959. p. 6931.
  8. ^ "No. 43450". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 September 1964. p. 8287.
  9. ^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  10. ^ a b "Nicholas Eden, Earl of Avon And Former Aide to Thatcher". The New York Times. 21 August 1985. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  11. ^ a b Coleman, Brian (25 June 2007). "Thatcher the gay icon". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2007.
  12. ^ a b "Papers Report Former Prime Minister's Son Died of AIDS". AP NEWS. 25 August 1985. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Matt & Andrej Koymasky - Famous GLTB - Nicholas Eden Lord Avon".
  14. ^ "Clarissa Eden, Countess of Avon, obituary".

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Lord-in-waiting
1980 – 1983 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Joint Under-Secretary of State for Energy
with John Moore 1983
Giles Shaw 1983–1984
1983–1984 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Sir George Young, Bt
Hon. William Waldegrave
Sir George Young, Bt

1984–1985 		Succeeded by
Sir George Young, Bt
Angela Rumbold
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Earl of Avon
1977–1985 		Extinct
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