Robert Fellowes, Baron Fellowes

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The Right Honourable
 The Lord Fellowes 
GCB GCVO QSO PC
Robert Fellowes, Baron Fellowes
In office
1990 – 1999
Monarch Elizabeth II
Preceded by The Rt. Hon. Sir William Heseltine
Succeeded by The Rt. Hon. Sir Robin Janvrin
Born December 11, 1941 (1941-12-11) (age 66)
Flag of England England
Nationality British
Spouse Lady Jane Spencer
Alma mater Eton College

Robert Fellowes, Baron Fellowes GCB GCVO QSO PC (born 11 December[1] 1941) was Private Secretary to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1990–1999. He is also known as a brother-in-law of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, mother of TRH Princes William and Harry.

Contents

[edit] Family background

He was born 1941, son of Scots Guards Major Sir William (Billy) Fellowes, the Queen's Land Agent at Sandringham, and of his wife Jane, daughter of Brigadier-General AFH Ferguson (great-grandfather of Sarah, Duchess of York). The Fellowes of Shotesham are an old country family, related to the Lords De Ramsey (senior branch). According to Michael Rhodes (a British genealogist specializing in the British aristocracy and landed gentry), "Lord De Ramsey descends from one Coulson Fellowes [1696-1769], and Lady Jane's husband, Lord Fellowes, descends from Coulson's younger brother, William, of Shotesham Park, Norfolk."[2] (Also, see this genealogy[3]). Julian Fellowes, author of Gosford Park, is a distant cousin.

Robert Fellowes married Lady Jane Spencer, elder sister of Diana Princess of Wales on 20 April 1978[4] at Westminster Abbey when he was an Assistant Private Secretary to the Queen.[5] The then-Lady Diana Spencer was a bridesmaid. They have three children, Laura Jane Fellowes, b. 19 July 1980; Alexander Robert Fellowes, b. 23 March 1983; and Eleanor Ruth Fellowes, b. 20 August 1985.

He has the unique distinction of not only being brother-in-law of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, but also first cousin once removed of Sarah, Duchess of York through his mother, Jane.

[edit] Early career

Robert Fellowes was educated at Eton College and joined the Scots Guards in 1960 on a short service commission. After completion of service in 1963 he entered the banking industry, working for Allen Harvey and Ross Ltd, Discount Brokers and Bankers, 1964–77. He was a managing director from 1968.

[edit] Royal service

In 1977 Fellowes was recruited to join the Royal Household as Assistant Private Secretary. He spent the next twenty years in the Private Secretary's Office, becoming Deputy in 1986, and Private Secretary in 1990. He also held the appointment of Extra Equerry, and was ex officio Keeper of the Queen's Archives while Private Secretary. From 1993 he was also a trustee of the Royal Collection Trust. During his tenure, he is believed to have earned relatively little, although this was offset by his grace and favour housing and other perks. Financial reasons, along with sheer exhaustion in an unusually strenuous period, might have forced his relatively early departure.

Fellowes left his position in February 1999 to return to private banking, his retirement having been announced implicitly on 1 June 1998 when his successor Robin Janvrin was named. Later that year, he was given a life peerage, as Baron Fellowes, of Shotesham in the County of Norfolk[1] in the Queen's Birthday Honours List on 12 June 1999 [6], after first being knighted as Sir Robert Fellowes.

Lord Fellowes was introduced to the House of Lords and took his seat formally on 26 October 1999. According to reports from the House of Lords, Lord Fellowes remains technically a member of the Royal Household[7]r.

Curiously, Robin Janvrin (portrayed by Roger Allam) was a leading character in the 2006 film The Queen, although at the time of the film's storyline, which took place in 1997, Fellowes was still the monarch's private secretary.[8]

[edit] Return to private life

After retirement from the Royal Household, Lord Fellowes became Vice-Chairman, and then Chairman, of Barclays Private Banking. He is also a company director, and a trustee of the Rhodes Trust, the Mandela-Rhodes Foundation and the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth Institute. He became Chair of the Prison Reform Trust in 2001.

[edit] Honours and decorations

Besides his Life Peerage, Lord Fellowes received the following honours:

  • Order of the Bath:
    • Companion of the Order of the Bath, 1987 (CB)
      • Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, 1991 (KCB)
        • Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, 1998 (GCB)


  • Royal Victorian Order:
    • Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order, 1983 (LVO)
      • Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, 1989 (KCVO)
        • Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, 1996 (GCVO)

He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1990.

He remained Secretary and Registrar of the Order of Merit, as of 10 June 2005 when Baroness Boothroyd, a former Speaker of the House of Commons, was invested with the Order of Merit.

[edit] Children

1. Laura Jane Fellowes b. 19 Jul 1980.

2. Alexander Robert Fellowes b. 23 Mar 1983, now a fourth year Classicist at Trinity College, Oxford, was educated at Eton College like his father, maternal uncle and his royal cousins. He is President of the Claret Club, an Old Etonian Society. He made news recently when his role in a Bullingdon Club drunken brawl was revealed December 2006 and revived March 2007 in a story about Conservative leader David Cameron.[9]

3. Eleanor Ruth Fellowes b. 20 Aug 1985.

[edit] Sources and citations

Notes
1. Lord and Lady Fellowes live in west Norfolk. The family had to move from their grace and favour house in Kensington Palace when Lord Fellowes left Royal service.

2. Job description for Assistant Private Secretary [10] as described by a journalist.

[edit] References

  1. ^ House of Lords (1999-10-26). Announcement of his introduction at the House of Lords. minutes of proceedings. Retrieved on 2006-07-26.

Printed sources

  • James Whitaker, "My Secretary and I", The Spectator, 6 June 1998.[11]

Online sources

  • Yvonne Demoskoff "Royal Private Secretaries" Usenet group alt.talk.royalty, 22 March 2003[12]
  • Yvonne Demoskoff, "Robin Fellowes, Usenet group alt.talk.royalty, 1 July 2001[13]
  • Michael Rhodes, " Aristocratic betrothals, January, 2003", Usenet group alt.talk.royalty, 10 January 2003[14]
  • Michael Rhodes, " Order of Merit for Baroness Boothroyd" Usenet group alt.talk.royalty, 14 June 2005, quoting from The Daily Telegraph 11 June 2005[15]
  • Leo van der Pas, "Ancestry of Robert Fellowes (b. 1941)"[16]
  • Unknown. "Robert Fellowes, director of SAB Miller"[17]

[edit] Offices held

Court offices
Preceded by
Sir William Heseltine		 Private Secretary to the Sovereign
1990–1999		 Succeeded by
Lord Janvrin
Languages