Alexander Hardinge, 2nd Baron Hardinge of Penshurst

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Alexander Hardinge, 2nd Baron Hardinge of Penshurst KCB GCVO MC PC (17 May 1894–29 May 1960) was Private Secretary to the Sovereign during the Abdication Crisis of Edward VIII and during most of the Second World War.

Hardinge was born in 1894, the son of The Hon. Charles Hardinge (who was later created Baron Hardinge of Penshurst in 1910). He fought in the First World War, alongside his brother, rising to the rank of Major and in 1920, he became Assistant Private Secretary to King George V. On 8 February 1921, he married Helen Gascoyne-Cecil (a daughter of Lord Edward Gascoyne-Cecil and his wife, Violet) and they had three children.

Hardinge served as Assistant Private Secretary up until the King's death in 1936 and was promoted to Private Secretary upon the accession of King Edward VIII that same year; he continued in this role until his early retirement in 1943. Hardinge's elder brother, Edward, had died from wounds received in action in 1914 and so Hardinge succeeded as Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, on the demise of his father a year later, in 1944. Hardinge died in 1960 and his title was inherited by his son, George.

Court offices
Preceded by The Earl of Cromer	Assistant Private Secretary to the Sovereign 1920–1936	Succeeded by Sir Godfrey Thomas
Preceded by Sir Clive Wigram	Private Secretary to the Sovereign 1936–1943	Succeeded by Sir Alan Lascelles
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Charles Hardinge	Baron Hardinge of Penshurst 1944–1960	Succeeded by George Hardinge