Lord Great Chamberlain
Lord Great Chamberlain of England | |
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Incumbent Rupert Carington, 7th Baron Carrington since 8 September 2022 Joint hereditary officeholders
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Style | The Right Honourable |
Type | Great Officer of State |
Appointer | TheMonarch |
Term length | At His Majesty's pleasure |
Formation | c. 1126 |
First holder | Robert Malet |
Superseded by | Lord High Treasurer(in monetary affairs) |
Succession | Hereditary |
Salary | Unpaid |
TheLord Great Chamberlain of England[1]is the sixth of theGreat Officers of State,ranking beneath theLord Privy Sealbut above theLord High Constable.The office of Lord Great Chamberlain is an ancient one, being first created circa 1126 in Norman times and in continuous existence since 1138. The incumbent isRupert Carington, 7th Baron Carrington.
Duties[edit]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Their_Majesties_the_King_and_Queen_Consort_visit_Parliament_36182.jpg/220px-Their_Majesties_the_King_and_Queen_Consort_visit_Parliament_36182.jpg)
The Lord Great Chamberlain is entrusted bythe Sovereignwith custody of thePalace of Westminster,the seat of theBritish Parliament,and serves as his or her representative therein.[2]The Lord Great Chamberlain enjoys plenary jurisdiction in those precincts of the Palace of Westminster not assigned to either theHouse of Lordsor theHouse of Commons,namely, theRoyal ApartmentsandCentral Lobby.To this end, the Lord Great Chamberlain is responsible for the use, preservation, and occupation of such spaces.[a]In addition, the Lord Great Chamberlain is one of three commissioners which exercise control and maintenance overWestminster Halland theCrypt Chapel;the other commissioners are theLord Speaker of the House of Lordsand theSpeaker of the House of Commons,respectively.[4]
The Lord Great Chamberlain performs other less routine functions as custodian of the Palace of Westminster. For example, the Lord Great Chamberlain introducespeersandbishopsto the House of Lords, accompanied byBlack Rod,and welcomes foreign heads of state visiting the Palace of Westminster. Likewise, the Lord Great Chamberlain is responsible for attending upon the Sovereign whenever he or she is present at the parliamentary estate. In the latter case, the Lord Great Chamberlain is authorized to make any administrative arrangements necessary for delivery of services required by the Sovereign.[5][6]
However, the Lord Great Chamberlain’s most publicly visible parliamentary role, in practice, is participating instate openings of Parliament.To this end, the Lord Great Chamberlain receives the Sovereign atNorman Porch,enrobes him or her with theRobe of Stateand theImperial State Crownin theRobing Room,and leads the Sovereign’s procession through theRoyal Galleryand thePrince's Chamberinto theLords Chamber.[7]It is also the Lord Great Chamberlain who, upon the command of the Sovereign, directs Black Rod to summon members of the House of Commons to attend the House of Lords for the purpose of hearing thespeech from the throne.[8]
Parliamentary responsibilities aside, 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. Likewise, the Lord Great Chamberlain invests the monarch with the insignia of rule during the coronation service.[9][10]On state occasions like coronations, the Lord Great Chamberlain wears a distinctive scarlet court uniform and bears a gold key and awhite staffas the insignia of his office.[11]
The office of Lord Great Chamberlain is distinct from the non-hereditary office ofLord Chamberlain of the Household,a position in themonarch'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.
TheHouse of Lords Act 1999removed the automatic right ofhereditary peersto sit in the House of Lords, but the Act provided that a hereditary peer exercising the office of Lord Great Chamberlain (as well as theEarl Marshal) be exempt from such a rule, in order to perform ceremonial functions.
Succession[edit]
The position is a hereditary one, held since 1780in gross. At any one time, a single person actually exercises the office of Lord Great Chamberlain. The various individuals who hold fractions of the office are properly eachJoint Hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain. They choose one individual of the rank of a knight or higher to be theDeputy Lord Great Chamberlain.[12][13] 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.
History of the office[edit]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Barack_Obama_in_the_Members%27_Lobby_of_the_Palace_of_Westminster%2C_2011.jpg/220px-Barack_Obama_in_the_Members%27_Lobby_of_the_Palace_of_Westminster%2C_2011.jpg)
The office was originally held byRobert Malet,a son of one of the leading companions ofWilliam the Conqueror.In 1133, however,King Henry Ideclared Malet's estates and titles forfeit, and awarded the office of Lord Great Chamberlain toAubrey de Vere,whose son was createdEarl 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 timeHenry VIII) then decreed that the office belonged tothe 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 andThomas Cromwell,the King's chief adviser, was appointed Lord Great Chamberlain.[14]After Cromwell'sattainderand 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.[15]Later,Queen Mary Iruled 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 asheir male,but a closer one as a female heir. TheHouse of Lordseventually ruled that the office belonged to theheir general,Robert Bertie, 14th Baron Willoughby de Eresby,who later becameEarl of Lindsey.The office remained vested in the Earls of Lindsey, who later becameDukes 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 ofWilloughby de Eresbywent intoabeyancebetween 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 theMarquess of Cholmondeley,a title created forGeorgiana's husband.
20th and 21st centuries[edit]
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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,andthe 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.[16]
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.[17]
As the Cholmondeley share and the Ancaster share (held since 1983 bythe 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 cousinRupert Carington, 7th Baron Carringtonto act as Lord Great Chamberlain.[18][19][20]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 toKing Charles IIIas part of hiscoronation.The spurs were included among the first English coronation ornaments in 1189 and were used during the coronation ofRichard I.[21]
Lord Great Chamberlains, 1130–1779[edit]
Joint hereditary Lord Great Chamberlains, 1780–present[edit]
The fractions show the holder's share in the office, and the date they held it. The current (as of 2022[update]) holders of the office are shown inboldface.
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Persons exercising the office of Lord Great Chamberlain, 1780–present[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^From theRestorationuntil 1963, the Lord Great Chamberlain was responsible forphysical plantandfacility managementthroughout the Palace of Westminster, in effect serving as aproperty managerfor the entire parliamentary estate.[3]
References[edit]
- ^"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.
- ^Daniel Brittain (27 November 2022)."Changing of the Lord: How Lord Carrington became the new Lord Great Chamberlain".PoliticsHome.Retrieved10 May2024.
- ^Michale Torrance (30 November 2021)."Governance and Administration of the House of Lords"(PDF).House of Lords Library. p. 22.Retrieved10 May2024.
- ^"Records of the Lord Great Chamberlain".Parliamentary Archives of the United Kingdom. October 2023.Retrieved10 May2024.
- ^"Lord Great Chamberlain".UK Parliament.Retrieved10 May2024.
- ^Daniel Brittain (19 April 2023)."Being Lord Great Chamberlain is an honour my father would have hated".The Times.Retrieved10 May2024.
- ^Allan Burton, PhD - The Antiquary (7 November 2023)."What is the State Opening of Parliament?".YouTube.Retrieved10 May2024.
- ^"State Opening: how it happens".UK Parliament.Retrieved10 May2024.
- ^Round, J. Horace(June 1902)."The Lord Great Chamberlain".Monthly Review.7(21): 42–58.Archivedfrom the original on 30 July 2022.Retrieved5 August2020.
- ^Sophie French (4 May 2023)."Lord Great Chamberlain interview: 'I've been preparing for a long time mentally'".PoliticsHome.Retrieved10 May2024.
- ^"King Charles will dress himself at the coronation - Lord Great Chamberlain".Times Radio. 4 May 2023.Retrieved10 May2024.
- ^"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.Archivedfrom the original on 29 November 2020.Retrieved5 January2020.
- ^"Office Of Lord Great Chamberlain".Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).House of Lords. May 6, 1902.Archived2021-01-28 at theWayback Machine
- ^Thomas Mortimer,ed. (1776).The British Plutarch.p. 115.Archivedfrom the original on 2018-12-24.Retrieved2016-06-02.
- ^Loades, D. (2004)Intrigue and Treason: the Tudor Court, 1547–1558Harlow: Pearson, p.309
- ^"Office Of Lord Great Chamberlain".Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).House of Lords. May 6, 1902.Archived2021-01-28 at theWayback Machine
- ^Great Officers of State: The Lord Great Chamberlain and The Earl MarshalArchived6 January 2014 at theWayback Machine.The Royal Family.debrettsArchived2019-08-24 at theWayback Machine.Debrett's Limited. Accessed 17 September 2013.
- ^"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.Retrieved2021-09-24.
- ^HL Deb, 15 March 2019 vol 796 c1213
- ^"Oaths - Hansard - UK Parliament".
- ^"Coronation: Take a look at the special 1661 golden spurs presented to the King".forces.net. 6 May 2023.Retrieved7 May2023.
- ^'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 Onlinehttp:// british-history.ac.uk/rymer-foedera/vol11/pp512-531Archived2020-11-27 at theWayback Machine[accessed 3 September 2020].
- ^'Rymer's Foedera with Syllabus: 1487', in Rymer's Foedera Volume 12, ed. Thomas Rymer (London, 1739–1745), pp. 320–331. British History Onlinehttp:// british-history.ac.uk/rymer-foedera/vol12/pp320-331Archived2020-11-27 at theWayback Machine[accessed 5 September 2020].
- ^'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 Onlinehttp:// british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol15/pp481-488Archived2020-09-25 at theWayback Machine[accessed 20 August 2020].
- ^'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 Onlinehttp:// british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol18/no1/pp7-21Archived2020-11-27 at theWayback Machine[accessed 20 August 2020].
- ^'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 Onlinehttp:// british-history.ac.uk/camden-record-soc/vol42/xiv-xixArchived2020-11-27 at theWayback Machine[accessed 5 September 2020].
- ^'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 Onlinehttp:// british-history.ac.uk/camden-record-soc/vol42/xiv-xixArchived2020-11-27 at theWayback Machine[accessed 5 September 2020].
- Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Lord Great Chamberlain".Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
External links[edit]
- debretts
- 1965 decisions regarding the Lord Great Chamberlain's responsibilities in the Palace of Westminster
- Planning Act 2008, s. 227(5)(h,i)
- Principal Office Holders in the House of Lords.House of Lords Library Note (LLN 2015/007), includes a very brief overview of the Lord Great Chamberlain
- cracroftspeerage.co.uk
- UK Parliamentary Archives, Records of the Lord Great Chamberlain