Christopher Airy

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Major-General Sir Christopher Airy, KCVO CBE General Officer Commanding the Household Division and Major-General Commanding London District 1986-1989.

Born 8 March 1934 he attended Marlborough College before training at Sandhurst and entering the Grenadier Guards, in which he served from 1954 to 1974. He transferred to the Scots Guards in 1974, and was promoted to the general staff in 1983. He retired in 1989, having served in the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), Cyprus, and Northern Ireland. Airy was Personal Military Assistant to the Secretary of State for War in 1960, Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General and Regimental Adjutant in 1967, and Brigade Major of 4 Guards Brigade in 1971. In 1974 he became Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion of the Scots Guards, and two years later Military Assistant (GSO1) to the Master-General of the Ordnance.

In 1979 Airy became Commanding Officer of the 5th Field Force, and in 1982 Assistant Chief of Staff United Kingdom Land Forces (UKLF).

Made a major-general in 1983, he served at the Royal College of Defence Studies to 1986, before becoming Major-General commanding the Household Division and General Officer Commanding London District.

He was Chairman of the Not Forgotten Association from 1993.

Major-General Sir Christopher Airy was appointed Private Secretary and Treasurer to the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1990. He remained in office for slightly under a year, and was made an Extra Equerry to the Queen in 1991. Sir Christopher was made a KCVO in 1989 and CBE in 1984.

He married Judith Stephenson in 1959 and has one son and two daughters.