Lord Great Chamberlain of England
Incumbent
Rupert Carington, 7th Baron Carrington
since 8 September 2022
Joint hereditary officeholders
StyleThe Right Honourable
TypeGreat Officer of State
AppointerThe Monarch
Term lengthAt His Majesty's pleasure
Formationc. 1126
First holderRobert Malet
Superseded byLord High Treasurer (in monetary affairs)
SuccessionHereditary
SalaryUnpaid

    The Lord Great Chamberlain of England[1] is the sixth of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal and above the Lord High Constable. The Lord Great Chamberlain has charge over the Palace of Westminster (though since the 1960s his personal authority has been limited to the royal apartments and Westminster Hall).

    The Lord Great Chamberlain also has a major part to play in royal coronations, having the right to dress the monarch on coronation day and to serve the monarch water before and after the coronation banquet, and also being involved in investing the monarch with the insignia of rule.[2]

    On formal state occasions, he wears a distinctive scarlet court uniform and bears a gold key and a white staff as the insignia of his office.

    Officeholders

    The position is a hereditary one, held since 1780 in gross. At any one time, a single person actually exercises the office of Lord Great Chamberlain. The various individuals who hold fractions of the Lord Great Chamberlainship are technically each Joint Hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain. The Joint Hereditary Lord Great Chamberlains choose one individual of the rank of a knight or higher to be the Deputy Lord Great Chamberlain.[3][4] Under an agreement made in 1912, the right to exercise the office for a given reign rotates among three families (of the then three joint office holders) in proportion to the fraction of the office held. For instance, the Marquesses of Cholmondeley hold one-half of the office, and may therefore exercise the office or appoint a deputy every alternate reign. Whenever one of the three shares of the 1912 agreement is split further, the joint heirs of this share have to agree among each other, who should be their deputy or any mechanism to determine who of them has the right to choose a deputy.

    The office of Lord Great Chamberlain is distinct from the non-hereditary office of Lord Chamberlain of the Household, a position in the monarch's household. This office arose in the 14th century as a deputy of the Lord Great Chamberlain to fulfil the latter's duties in the Royal Household, but now they are quite distinct.

    The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, but the Act provided that a hereditary peer exercising the office of Lord Great Chamberlain (as well as the Earl Marshal) be exempt from such a rule, in order to perform ceremonial functions.

    History of the office

    The Lord Great Chamberlain, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley (left), holding his white staff of office; the Lord Speaker, Baroness Hayman; and the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, showing US President Barack Obama around Members' Lobby during a tour of the Palace in May 2011.

    The office was originally held by Robert Malet, a son of one of the leading companions of William the Conqueror. In 1133, however, King Henry I declared Malet's estates and titles forfeit, and awarded the office of Lord Great Chamberlain to Aubrey de Vere, whose son was created Earl of Oxford. Thereafter, the Earls of Oxford held the title almost continuously until 1526, with a few intermissions due to the forfeiture of some Earls for treason. In 1526, however, the fourteenth Earl of Oxford died, leaving his aunts as his heirs. The earldom was inherited by a more distant heir-male, his second cousin. The Sovereign (at that time Henry VIII) then decreed that the office belonged to the Crown, and was not transmitted along with the earldom. The Sovereign appointed the fifteenth Earl to the office, but the appointment was deemed for life and was not hereditary. The family's association with the office was interrupted in 1540, when the fifteenth earl died and Thomas Cromwell, the King's chief adviser, was appointed Lord Great Chamberlain.[5] After Cromwell's attainder and execution later the same year, the office passed through a few more court figures, until 1553, when it was passed back to the De Vere family, the sixteenth Earl of Oxford, again as an uninheritable life appointment.[6] Later, Queen Mary I ruled that the Earls of Oxford were indeed entitled to the office of Lord Great Chamberlain on an hereditary basis.

    Thus, the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth Earls of Oxford held the position on a hereditary basis until 1626, when the eighteenth Earl died, again leaving a distant relative as heir male, but a closer one as a female heir. The House of Lords eventually ruled that the office belonged to the heir general, Robert Bertie, 14th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, who later became Earl of Lindsey. The office remained vested in the Earls of Lindsey, who later became Dukes of Ancaster and Kesteven.

    In 1779, however, the fourth Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven died, leaving two sisters as female heirs, and an uncle as an heir male. The uncle became the fifth and last Duke, but the House of Lords ruled that the two sisters were jointly Lord Great Chamberlain and could appoint a Deputy to fulfil the functions of the office. The barony of Willoughby de Eresby went into abeyance between the two sisters, but the Sovereign terminated the abeyance and granted the title to the elder sister, Priscilla Bertie, 21st Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. The office of Lord Great Chamberlain, however, was divided between Priscilla and her younger sister Georgiana. Priscilla's share was eventually split between two of her granddaughters, and has been split several more times since then. By contrast, Georgiana's share has been inherited by a single male heir each time; that individual has in each case been the Marquess of Cholmondeley, a title created for Georgiana's husband.

    20th and 21st centuries

    6 May 2023: Lord Carrington (Lord Great Chamberlain since 2022) on his way to the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla (with Baroness Manningham-Buller, LG).

    In 1902 it was ruled by the House of Lords that the then joint office holders (the 1st Earl of Ancaster, the 4th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and the Earl Carrington, later Marquess of Lincolnshire) had to agree on a deputy to exercise the office, subject to the approval of the Sovereign. Should there be no such agreement, the Sovereign should appoint a deputy until an agreement be reached.[7]

    In 1912 an agreement was reached. The office, or right to appoint the person to exercise the office, would thereafter rotate among the three joint office holders and their heirs after them, changing at the start of each successive reign. Cholmondeley and his heirs would serve in every other reign; Ancaster and Carrington would each serve once in four reigns.[8]

    As the Cholmondeley share and the Ancaster share (held since 1983 by the Baroness Willoughby de Eresby) are not further split, each of these holders decides in his or her turn to act as Lord Great Chamberlain or to name a person who will act as Lord Great Chamberlain. The Carrington share was divided at his death among his five daughters and their heirs, and has since been further divided, with 11 people holding shares as of September 2022. At accession of Charles III the turn fell to the Carrington heirs who named their cousin Rupert Carington, 7th Baron Carrington to act as Lord Great Chamberlain.[9][10][11] Being descended from the Earl's younger brother he himself has no share of the office.

    On 6 May 2023 the Lord Great Chamberlain presented spurs to King Charles III as part of his coronation. The spurs were included among the first English coronation ornaments in 1189 and were used during the coronation of Richard I.[12]

    Lord Great Chamberlains, 1130–1779

    Portrait Name Term of office Monarch
    (reign)
    Robert Malet 1130 1133 Henry I
    (1100–1135)
    Aubrey de Vere II 1133 1141
    Stephen
    (1135–1154)
    Aubrey de Vere
    1st Earl of Oxford    		 1141 1194
    Henry II
    (1154–1189)
    Richard I
    (1189–1199)
    Aubrey de Vere
    2nd Earl of Oxford    		 1194 1214
    John
    (1199–1216)
    Robert de Vere
    3rd Earl of Oxford    		 1214 1221
    Henry III

    (1216–1272)
    Hugh de Vere
    4th Earl of Oxford    		 1221 1263
    Robert de Vere
    5th Earl of Oxford    		 1263 1265
    unclear, perhaps vacant 1265 1267
    unclear, perhaps again
    Robert de Vere
    5th Earl of Oxford    		 1267 1296
    Edward I
    (1272–1307)
    Robert de Vere
    6th Earl of Oxford    		 1296 1331
    Edward II
    (1307–1327)
    Edward III

    (1327–1377)
    John de Vere
    7th Earl of Oxford    		 1331 1360
    Thomas de Vere
    8th Earl of Oxford    		 1360 1371
    Robert de Vere
    Duke of Ireland
    KG    		 1371 1388
    Richard II

    (1377–1399)
    John Holland
    1st Duke of Exeter    		 1398 1399
    Aubrey de Vere
    10th Earl of Oxford    		 1399 1400 Henry IV
    (1399–1413)
    Richard de Vere
    11th Earl of Oxford    		 1400 1417
    Henry V
    (1413–1422)
    John de Vere
    12th Earl of Oxford    		 1417 1462
    Henry VI
    (1422–1461)
    Edward IV
    (1461–1470)
    John de Vere
    13th Earl of Oxford
    KG KB    		 1462 1464
    Richard Neville
    16th Earl of Warwick
    KG    		 1464[13] 1471
    Henry VI
    (1470–1471)
    unclear 1471 1475 Edward IV

    (1471–1483)
    Henry Percy
    4th Earl of Northumberland    		 1475 1485
    Edward V
    (1483)
    Richard III
    (1483–1485)
    John de Vere
    13th Earl of Oxford
    KG KB    		 1485[14] 1513 Henry VII
    (1485–1509)
    Henry VIII

    (1509–1547)
    John de Vere
    14th Earl of Oxford    		 1513 1526
    John de Vere
    15th Earl of Oxford
    KG PC    		 1526 1540
    Thomas Cromwell
    1st Earl of Essex
    KG PC    		 1540 1540
    Robert Radcliffe
    1st Earl of Sussex
    KG KB PC    		 1540[15] 1542
    Edward Seymour
    1st Duke of Somerset
    KG    		 1543[16] 1547
    John Dudley
    1st Duke of Northumberland
    KG    		 1547[17] 1549 Edward VI

    (1547–1553)
    William Parr
    1st Marquess of Northampton
    KG    		 1549[18] 1553
    John de Vere
    16th Earl of Oxford    		 1553 1562 Mary I
    (1553–1558)
    Elizabeth I
    (1558–1603)
    Edward de Vere
    17th Earl of Oxford    		 1562 1604
    James I

    (1603–1625)
    Henry de Vere
    18th Earl of Oxford    		 1604 1625
    Robert Bertie
    1st Earl of Lindsay    		 1625 1642 Charles I

    (1625–1649)
    Montagu Bertie
    2nd Earl of Lindsay
    KG PC    		 1642 1666
    Interregnum
    (1649–1660)
    Charles II
    (1660–1685)
    Robert Bertie
    3rd Earl of Lindsay
    PC FRS    		 1666 1701
    James II
    (1685–1688)
    Mary II
    (1689–1694)
    William III
    (1689–1702)
    Robert Bertie
    1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
    PC    		 1701 1723
    Anne
    (1702–1714)
    George I
    (1714–1727)
    Peregrine Bertie
    2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
    PC    		 1723 1742
    George II
    (1727–1760)
    Peregrine Bertie
    3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
    PC    		 1742 1778
    George III

    (1760–1820)
    Robert Bertie
    4th Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
    PC    		 1778 1779

    Joint hereditary Lord Great Chamberlains, 1780–present

    The fractions show the holder's share in the office, and the date they held it. The current (as of 2022) holders of the office are shown in bold face.

    Joint hereditary Lord Great Chamberlains, 1780–present
    Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
    Priscilla Bertie, 21st Baroness Willoughby de Eresby
    1⁄2 1780–1828    		Georgiana Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley
    1⁄2 1780–1838
    Peter Drummond-Burrell, 22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby
    1⁄2 1828–1865    		George Cholmondeley, 2nd Marquess of Cholmondeley
    1⁄2 1838–1870    		William Cholmondeley, 3rd Marquess of Cholmondeley
    1⁄2 1870–1884
    Albyric Drummond-Willoughby, 23rd Baron Willoughby de Eresby
    1⁄2 1865–1870    		Clementina Drummond-Willoughby, 24th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby
    1⁄4 1870–1888    		Charlotte Augusta Carrington, Lady Carrington
    1⁄4 1870–1879    		Charles George Cholmondeley
    Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster
    1⁄4 1888–1910    		Charles Wynn-Carington, 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire
    1⁄4 1879–1928    		George Cholmondeley, 4th Marquess of Cholmondeley
    1⁄2 1884–1923
    Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 2nd Earl of Ancaster
    1⁄4 1910–1951    		Marjorie Wilson, Baroness Nunburnholme
    1⁄20 1928–1968    		Lady Alexandra Llewellen Palmer
    1⁄20 1928–1955    		Ruperta Legge, Countess of Dartmouth
    1⁄20 1928–1963    		Judith Keppel, Countess of AlbemarleLady Victoria Weld-Forester
    1⁄20 1928–1966    		George Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley
    1⁄2 1923–1968
    James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 3rd Earl of Ancaster
    1⁄4 1951–1983    		Charles Wilson, 3rd Baron Nunburnholme
    1⁄20 1968–1974    		Brig. Anthony Llewellen Palmer
    1⁄20 1955–1990    		Col. Charles Timothy Llewellen PalmerLady Mary Findlay
    1⁄100 1963–2003    		Lady Elizabeth Basset
    1⁄100 1963–2000    		Lady Diana Matthews
    1⁄100 1963–1970    		Lady Barbara Kwiatkowska
    1⁄100 1963–2013    		Josceline Chichester, Marchioness of Donegall
    1⁄100 1963–1995    		Derek Keppel, Viscount Bury
    1⁄20 1928–1968    		Sir Henry Legge-Bourke
    1⁄20 1966–1973    		Hugh Cholmondeley, 6th Marquess of Cholmondeley
    1⁄2 1968–1990
    Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby
    1⁄4 1983–    		Ben Wilson, 4th Baron Nunburnholme
    1⁄20 1974–1998    		Julian Llewellen Palmer
    1⁄20 1990–2002    		Cdr Jonathan Findlay
    1⁄100 2003–2015    		Bryan Basset
    1⁄100 2000–2010    		Col James Hamilton-Russell
    1⁄100 1970–    		Jan Witold Kwiatkowski
    1⁄100 2013–    		Patrick Chichester, 8th Marquess of Donegall
    1⁄100 1995–    		Rufus Keppel, 10th Earl of Albemarle
    1⁄20 1968–    		William Legge-Bourke
    1⁄20 1973–2009    		David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley
    1⁄2 1990–
    The Hon. Lorraine Wilson
    1⁄80 1998–2022
    1⁄60 2022–    		The Hon. Tatiana Dent
    1⁄80 1998–2022
    1⁄60 2022–    		The Hon. Ines Garton
    1⁄80 1998–2022
    1⁄60 2022–    		The Hon. Ysabel Williams
    1⁄80 1998–2022    		Nicholas Llewellen Palmer
    1⁄20 2002–    		Christopher Findlay
    1⁄100 2015–    		David Basset
    1⁄100 2010    		Michael James Basset
    1⁄100 2010–    		Capt. Harry Legge-Bourke
    1⁄20 2009–

    Persons exercising the office of Lord Great Chamberlain, 1780–present

    Portrait Name Term of office Monarch
    (reign)
    Peter Burrell
    1st Baron Gwydyr    		 1780 1820 George III
    (1760–1820)
    George IV

    (1820–1830)
    Peter Drummond-Burrell
    22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby
    PC    		 1821 1830
    George Cholmondeley
    2nd Marquess of Cholmondeley
    PC    		 1830 1837 William IV

    (1830–1837)
    Peter Drummond-Burrell
    22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby
    PC    		 1837 1865 Victoria

    (1837–1901)
    Albyric Drummond-Willoughby
    23rd Baron Willoughby de Eresby    		 1865 1870
    Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby
    25th Baron Willoughby de Eresby
    PC    		 1871 1901
    George Cholmondeley
    4th Marquess of Cholmondeley
    PC DL    		 1901 1910 Edward VII

    (1901–1910)
    Charles Wynn-Carington
    1st Marquess of Lincolnshire
    KG GCMG PC JP DL    		 1910 1928 George V

    (1910–1936)
    William Legge
    Viscount Lewisham
    GCVO TD    		 1928 1936
    George Cholmondeley
    5th Marquess of Cholmondeley
    GCVO    		 1936 Edward VIII

    (1936)
    Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby
    2nd Earl of Ancaster
    GCVO JP DL    		 1936 1951 George VI

    (1936–1952)
    James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby
    3rd Earl of Ancaster
    TD    		 1951 1952
    George Cholmondeley
    5th Marquess of Cholmondeley
    GCVO    		 1952 1966 Elizabeth II

    (1952–2022)
    Hugh Cholmondeley
    6th Marquess of Cholmondeley
    GCVO MC DL    		 1966 1990
    David Cholmondeley
    7th Marquess of Cholmondeley
    GCVO DL    		 1990 2022
    Rupert Carington
    7th Baron Carrington
    DL    		 2022 present Charles III

    (2022–present)

    References

    1. ↑ "No. 52335". The London Gazette. 14 November 1990. p. 17651. THE QUEEN has been pleased by Warrant under Her Majesty's Royal Sign Manual, bearing date 5th November 1990, to approve the selection of David George Philip, Marquess of Cholmondeley to perform and execute the office of Lord Great Chamberlain of England.
    2. ↑ Round, J. Horace (June 1902). "The Lord Great Chamberlain". Monthly Review. 7 (21): 42–58. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
    3. ↑ "House of Lords Journal Volume 36: May 1781 21-30". Journal of the House of Lords Volume 36, 1779-1783. London: British History Online. 1767–1830. pp. 296–309. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
    4. ↑ "Office Of Lord Great Chamberlain". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. May 6, 1902. Archived 2021-01-28 at the Wayback Machine
    5. ↑ Thomas Mortimer, ed. (1776). The British Plutarch. p. 115. Archived from the original on 2018-12-24. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
    6. ↑ Loades, D. (2004) Intrigue and Treason: the Tudor Court, 1547–1558 Harlow: Pearson, p.309
    7. ↑ "Office Of Lord Great Chamberlain". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. May 6, 1902. Archived 2021-01-28 at the Wayback Machine
    8. ↑ Great Officers of State: The Lord Great Chamberlain and The Earl Marshal Archived 6 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine. The Royal Family. debretts.com Archived 2019-08-24 at the Wayback Machine. Debrett's Limited. Accessed 17 September 2013.
    9. ↑ "Position of the Lord Great Chamberlain following the demise of the monarch (Freedom of Information request)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-09-24. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
    10. ↑ HL Deb, 15 March 2019 vol 796 c1213
    11. ↑ "Oaths - Hansard - UK Parliament".
    12. ↑ "Coronation: Take a look at the special 1661 golden spurs presented to the King". forces.net. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
    13. ↑ 'Rymer's Foedera with Syllabus: January–June 1464', in Rymer's Foedera Volume 11, ed. Thomas Rymer (London, 1739–1745), pp. 512–531. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rymer-foedera/vol11/pp512-531 Archived 2020-11-27 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 3 September 2020].
    14. ↑ 'Rymer's Foedera with Syllabus: 1487', in Rymer's Foedera Volume 12, ed. Thomas Rymer (London, 1739–1745), pp. 320–331. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rymer-foedera/vol12/pp320-331 Archived 2020-11-27 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 5 September 2020].
    15. ↑ 'Henry VIII: August 1540, 1-10', in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 15, 1540, ed. James Gairdner and R. H. Brodie (London, 1896), pp. 481–488. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol15/pp481-488 Archived 2020-09-25 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 20 August 2020].
    16. ↑ 'Henry VIII: January 1543, 6-10', in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 18, Part 1, January–July 1543, ed. James Gairdner and R. H. Brodie (London, 1901), pp. 7–21. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol18/no1/pp7-21 Archived 2020-11-27 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 20 August 2020].
    17. ↑ 'Officers of State during the period covered', in The Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London, 1550–1563, ed. J. G. Nichols (London, 1848), pp. xiv–xix. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/camden-record-soc/vol42/xiv-xix Archived 2020-11-27 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 5 September 2020].
    18. ↑ 'Officers of State during the period covered', in The Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London, 1550–1563, ed. J. G. Nichols (London, 1848), pp. xiv–xix. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/camden-record-soc/vol42/xiv-xix Archived 2020-11-27 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 5 September 2020].
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