George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood

The Right Honourable The Earl of Harewood KBE AM
Counsellor of State
In office 6 February 1952 – 9 October 1956
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh
Succeeded by	HRH The Duke of Kent
In office 7 February 1944 – 21 August 1951
Monarch	George VI
Preceded by	HH The Countess of Southesk
Succeeded by	HRH The Princess Margaret
Member of the House of Lords as Earl of Harewood
In office 7 February 1956 – 11 November 1999
Preceded by	Henry Lascelles
Succeeded by	House of Lords Act 1999
Personal details
Born	George Henry Hubert Lascelles (1923-02-07)7 February 1923 Chesterfield House, London
Died	11 July 2011(2011-07-11) (aged 88) Harewood House, Leeds
Spouse(s)	Marion Stein (m. 1949; div. 1967) Patricia Tuckwell (m. 1967–2011; his death)
Children	David Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood James Lascelles Jeremy Lascelles Mark Lascelles
Parents	Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood Mary, Princess Royal
Education	Ludgrove School Eton College King's College, Cambridge

George Henry Hubert Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, KBE AM (7 February 1923 – 11 July 2011), styled The Hon. George Lascelles before 1929 and Viscount Lascelles between 1929 and 1947, was the elder son of the 6th Earl of Harewood and Princess Mary, Princess Royal, the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary. Lord Harewood was the eldest nephew of King George VI and was a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. He succeeded to his father's earldom on 24 May 1947.

Early life

George Lascelles (Lascelles can be traced back to the early Norman period in Britain. The name derives from armpit "l'aiscelle") was born at his parents' London home of Chesterfield House on 7 February 1923, the first child of Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles and Princess Mary, Viscountess Lascelles, and first grandchild of King George V and Queen Mary, who stood as sponsors at his christening. The christening took place on 25 March 1923 at St Mary's Church in the village of Goldsborough, near Knaresborough adjoining the family home Goldsborough Hall. He served as a Page of Honour at the coronation of his uncle, King George VI, in May 1937.

He was educated at Ludgrove School, Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, after which he was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards (his father’s regiment) in 1942, attaining the rank of captain. He fought in Algeria and Italy, but was wounded and captured at Monte Corno on 18 June 1944 by the Germans who held him as a prisoner of war in Oflag IV-C (Colditz) till May 1945. In March 1945 Adolf Hitler signed his death warrant; the SS general commanding the camp, Gottlob Berger, realizing the war was lost, refused to carry out the sentence and released the future earl to the Swiss.^[1] In 1945–46, he served as aide-de-camp to his great uncle, Lord Athlone, who was then Governor General of Canada. Lord Harewood served as a Counsellor of State in 1947, 1953–54, and 1956. On 7 February 1956 he took his seat in the House of Lords.^[2]

Marriages

On 29 September 1949, Lord Harewood married Marion Stein, a concert pianist and the daughter of the Viennese music publisher Erwin Stein. Lord and Lady Harewood had three sons:

• David, 8th Earl of Harewood (born 21 October 1950 in Bayswater, London)
• The Honourable James Lascelles (born 5 October 1953 in Bayswater, London)
• The Honourable Jeremy Lascelles (born 14 February 1955 in Bayswater, London)

This marriage ended in divorce in 1967, considered a scandal at the time. Stein went on to marry politician Jeremy Thorpe.

Lord Harewood was married a second time on 31 July 1967 to Patricia "Bambi" Tuckwell (born 24 November 1926), an Australian violinist and sister of the musician Barry Tuckwell. The wedding took place at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Connecticut. They were obliged to be married abroad, as in England, Registry office marriages were barred at the time for persons covered by the Royal Marriages Act, and divorcees could not marry in the Church of England.^[3][4] They had one son:

• The Hon. Mark Hubert Lascelles (born 4 July 1964 in Marylebone, London). Because he was not born in wedlock, he is ineligible to inherit his father's earldom and not in the line of succession to the throne. He married Andrea Kershaw (born 16 June 1964 in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire) on 8 August 1992 in Harewood.^[5] They had three children:
  • Charlotte Patricia Lascelles (born 24 January 1996 in Westminster, London)
  • Imogen Mary Lascelles (born 23 January 1998 in Leeds, West Yorkshire)
  • Miranda Rose Lascelles (born 15 July 2000 in Leeds, West Yorkshire)

The Queen gave her consent to the marriage of Mark Lascelles and Judith Anne Kilburn on 10 May 2011, and the two were married on 16 July 2011.^[6]

Opera and football

A music enthusiast, Lord Harewood devoted most of his career to opera. He served as editor of Opera magazine from 1950 to 1953. In February 1950, it was reported that he had launched the magazine at a large party at the house of Richard Buckle with many music-loving guests in attendance.^[7] He was director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden from 1951 to 1953 and again from 1969 to 1972. He served as chairman of the board of the English National Opera (ENO) from 1986 to 1995; Managing Director of the ENO from 1972 to 1985 and was Artistic Director of both the Edinburgh and Adelaide Festivals. From 1958 to 1974, he was General/Artistic Director of the Leeds Triennial Musical Festival. He was Managing Director of the ENO offshoot English National Opera North from 1978 to 1981. Lord Harewood served as a governor of the BBC from 1985 to 1987 and as the president of the British Board of Film Classification from 1985 to 1996.^[8]

He was the author or editor of three books, Kobbé's Complete Opera Book (ed. 1954, now The New Kobbé's Opera Book, edited with Antony Peattie, latest ed. 1997; and The New Pocket Kobbé's Opera Book, edited with his step-son Michael Shmith, 2000),^[9] The Tongs and the Bones (an autobiography, 1981), and Kobbé's Illustrated Opera Book (ed. 1989). He was chairman of Historic Masters, an unusual vinyl record label dedicated to high quality issues of rare historic 78 rpm recordings of opera singers. He was a noted friend and colleague of the late opera diva Maria Callas and is featured in the 1968 EMI documentary The Callas Conversations Vol. I, during which he interviewed Callas at length concerning her career and ideas about opera.

His other interests included football: he served as president of Leeds United Football Club from 1961 until his death and was president of the Football Association from 1963 to 1972. He died on 11 July 2011, aged 88.^[10][11]

Official honours

Queen Elizabeth II created him a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1986. On 1 July 2010 he was appointed an honorary Member of the Order of Australia, "for service to the arts in Australia and to supporting Australia's artists in the United Kingdom".^[12]

In 1959, Harewood received the Grand Decoration in Silver with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria.^[13]

Family

• At the time of his birth, he was 6th in line to the British throne. At his death, he was 46th.
• He was the first of nine grandchildren of George V and Queen Mary. He was 21 years older than the youngest grandchild (Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester). He outlived his two royal cousins Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, Prince William of Gloucester, and his brother Gerald.
• He was the oldest cousin of Queen Elizabeth II on George VI's side, but The Hon. John Patrick Bowes-Lyon, Master of Glamis, was the Queen's oldest cousin.

Career

• He was the only person to serve as Counsellor of State without being a Prince of the United Kingdom, serving from 1945 to 1951, then 1952 to 1956.
• He served as chancellor of the University of York from 1962 to 1967.
• He was ranked number 1355 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2008 with an estimated wealth of £55 million—his magnificent art treasures, held in trust and valued at more than £50 million, and a 3,000 acres (12 km²) estate outside Leeds. The estate and house, Harewood House, are held by a charity with £9 million of assets, and were not counted as part of his wealth.

Titles

• 7 February 1923 – 6 October 1929: The Honourable George Lascelles
• 6 October 1929 – 24 May 1947: Viscount Lascelles
• 24 May 1947 – 1986: The Right Honourable The Earl of Harewood
• 1986 – 1 July 2010: The Right Honourable The Earl of Harewood, KBE
• 1 July 2010 – 11 July 2011: The Right Honourable The Earl of Harewood, KBE AM

Books

The Tongs and the Bones: The Memoirs of Lord Harewood, published by George Weidenfeld and Nicholson (1981), ISBN 0-297-77960-5 is George Lascelles' autobiography

Ancestry

References

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Harewood
• George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood interview by Bruce Duffie
• Obituary, The Daily Telegraph, 12 July 2011.
• Appearance on Desert Island Discs 26 December 1981