Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Charles Ford, is a retired Guards officer of the British Army, now holding the office of Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office, in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, from 6 January 2006.[1]
Following Royal Military College Sandhurst, Ford was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards as a second lieutenant on a Short Service Commission on 8 April 1977.[2] He was promoted lieutenant on 8 April 1979,[3] and switched to a full commission on 21 August 1978.[4] He was promoted captain on 8 October 1983,[5] major on 30 September 1989,[6] and lieutenant-colonel on 30 June 1998.[7] He transferred to the Welsh Guards on 27 August 1999,[8] and retired on 4 October 2005 (retaining a reserve commission),[9] he also attended the Joint Service Defence College.
He took office as Comptroller of The Lord Chamberlain's Office on 6 January 2006.[1] The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department within the British Royal Household. It is presently concerned with matters such as protocol, state visits, investitures, garden parties, the State Opening of Parliament, royal weddings and funerals. The Comptroller is the full-time head of department, responsible to the part-time Lord Chamberlain.