Robert Fellowes, Baron Fellowes
Encyclopedia
Robert Fellowes, Baron Fellowes, GCB
, GCVO
, QSO
, PC (born 11 December 1941) is a former Private Secretary
to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
1990–1999, and is also known as a brother-in-law of Diana, Princess of Wales
.
Major Sir William (Billy) Fellowes, the Queen's Land Agent at Sandringham, and of his wife Jane Ferguson, 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." 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 at Westminster Abbey
, when he was an Assistant Private Secretary to the Queen. The then-Lady Diana Spencer was a bridesmaid. They have three children, Laura Jane Fellowes, 19 July 1980, Alexander Robert Fellowes, 23 March 1983 and Eleanor Ruth Fellowes, 20 August 1985.
As well as being brother-in-law of Diana, Princess of Wales
, he is also first cousin once removed of Sarah, Duchess of York
through his mother, Jane.
for Norfolk
in the 1959 Minor Counties Championship, making one appearance each against Buckinghamshire
and the Nottinghamshire Second XI
. 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.
housing and other perks.
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 peer
age, as Baron Fellowes, of Shotesham in the County of Norfolk
in the Queen's Birthday Honours List
on 12 June 1999, having been knighted as Sir Robert Fellowes in 1989.
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.
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.
. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth Institute
. He became Chair of the Prison Reform Trust
in 2001. He is also the President of Degremont UK following an approach by Jean Nassau (former Prince of Luxembourg).
He was made a Privy Counsellor (PC) 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.
2. (The hon.) Alexander Robert Fellowes b. 23 March 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.
3. (The hon.) Eleanor Ruth Fellowes b. 20 Aug 1985.
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.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, GCVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
, QSO
Queen's Service Order
The Queen's Service Order was established by Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, awarded by the government of New Zealand "for valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the public sector, whether in elected or...
, PC (born 11 December 1941) is a former Private Secretary
Private Secretary to the Sovereign
The Private Secretary to the Sovereign is the senior operational member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, as distinct from the Great Officers of the Household. The Private Secretary is the principal channel of communication with Her Majesty's Government and the...
to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
1990–1999, and is also known as a brother-in-law of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
.
Family background
Fellowes is the son of Scots GuardsScots Guards
The Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...
Major Sir William (Billy) Fellowes, the Queen's Land Agent at Sandringham, and of his wife Jane Ferguson, daughter of Brigadier-General AFH Ferguson (great-grandfather of Sarah, Duchess of York
Sarah, Duchess of York
Sarah, Duchess of York is a British charity patron, spokesperson, writer, film producer, television personality and former member of the British Royal Family. She is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, whom she married from 1986 to 1996...
). The Fellowes of Shotesham
Shotesham
Shotesham is a village in South Norfolk which lies approximately 5 miles south of Norwich. It sits next to Stoke Holy Cross and Saxlingham Nethergate in the valley of the River Tas. It covers an area of and had a population of 539 in 210 households as of the 2001 census....
are an old country family, related to the Lords De Ramsey
Baron de Ramsey
Baron de Ramsey, of Ramsey Abbey in the County of Huntingdon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1887 for Edward Fellowes, who had previously represented Huntingdonshire in the House of Commons as a Conservative for 43 years...
(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." Julian Fellowes
Julian Fellowes
Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, DL , known as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter, as well as a Conservative peer.-Early life:...
, author of Gosford Park
Gosford Park
Gosford Park is a 2001 British-American mystery comedy-drama film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes. The film stars an ensemble cast, which includes Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Alan Bates, and Michael Gambon...
, is a distant cousin.
Robert Fellowes married Lady Jane Spencer
Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes
Cynthia Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes is the older sister of Diana, Princess of Wales.-Early life:Lady Fellowes was born The Honourable Cynthia Jane Spencer. Her title changed to The Lady Cynthia Jane Spencer in 1975, when her grandfather died and her father became the 8th Earl Spencer...
, elder sister of Diana Princess of Wales on 20 April 1978 at Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, when he was an Assistant Private Secretary to the Queen. The then-Lady Diana Spencer was a bridesmaid. They have three children, Laura Jane Fellowes, 19 July 1980, Alexander Robert Fellowes, 23 March 1983 and Eleanor Ruth Fellowes, 20 August 1985.
As well as being brother-in-law of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
, he is also first cousin once removed of Sarah, Duchess of York
Sarah, Duchess of York
Sarah, Duchess of York is a British charity patron, spokesperson, writer, film producer, television personality and former member of the British Royal Family. She is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, whom she married from 1986 to 1996...
through his mother, Jane.
Early career
Fellowes played cricketCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
for Norfolk
Norfolk County Cricket Club
Norfolk County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Norfolk and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
in the 1959 Minor Counties Championship, making one appearance each against Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire County Cricket Club
Buckinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Buckinghamshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy. The Minor Counties play...
and the Nottinghamshire Second XI
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
. Fellowes was educated at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and joined the Scots Guards
Scots Guards
The Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...
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.
Royal service
In 1977 Fellowes was recruited to join the Royal Household as Assistant Private Secretary. He spent the next 20 years in the Private Secretary's Office, becoming Deputy in 1986, and Private Secretary in 1990 to have earned relatively little, although this was offset by his grace and favourGrace and favour
A grace and favour home is a residential property owned by a monarch by virtue of their position as head of state and leased rent-free to persons as part of an employment package or in gratitude for past services rendered....
housing and other perks.
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 peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
age, as Baron Fellowes, of Shotesham in the County of Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
in the Queen's Birthday Honours List
Queen's Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the celebration of the Queen's Official Birthday in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen...
on 12 June 1999, having been knighted as Sir Robert Fellowes in 1989.
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.
Robin Janvrin (portrayed by Roger Allam
Roger Allam
Roger Allam is an English actor, known primarily for his stage career, although he has performed in film and television. He played Inspector Javert in the original London production of the stage musical Les Misérables....
) was a leading character in the 2006 film The Queen
The Queen (film)
The Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II...
, although at the time of the film's storyline, which took place in 1997, Fellowes was still the monarch's private secretary.
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 TrustWinston Churchill Memorial Trust
The Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill. They are based in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill. They are based...
. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth Institute
Commonwealth Institute
The Commonwealth Institute was an educational charity connected with the Commonwealth of Nations, and the name of a building in West London formerly owned by the Institute...
. He became Chair of the Prison Reform Trust
Prison Reform Trust
The Prison Reform Trust was founded in 1981 in London, England by a small group of prison reform campaigners who were unhappy with the direction in which the Howard League for Penal Reform was heading, concentrating more on community punishments than on traditional prison reform issues...
in 2001. He is also the President of Degremont UK following an approach by Jean Nassau (former Prince of Luxembourg).
Honours and decorations
Besides his Life Peerage, Lord Fellowes received the following honours:- Order of the BathOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
:- Companion (CB), 1987
- Knight Commander (KCB), 1991
- Knight Grand Cross (GCB), 1998
- Royal Victorian OrderRoyal Victorian OrderThe Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
:- Lieutenant (LVO), 1983
- Knight Commander (KCVO), 1989
- Knight Grand Cross (GCVO), 1996
- Queen's Service OrderQueen's Service OrderThe Queen's Service Order was established by Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, awarded by the government of New Zealand "for valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the public sector, whether in elected or...
(QSO), 1999
He was made a Privy Counsellor (PC) in 1990.
He remained Secretary and Registrar of the Order of Merit
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit is a British dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture...
, as of 10 June 2005 when Baroness Boothroyd
Betty Boothroyd
Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd, OM, PC is a British politician, who served as Member of Parliament for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000, initially for the Labour Party and, from 1992 to 2000, as Speaker of the House of Commons...
, a former Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
, was invested
Investiture
Investiture, from the Latin is a rather general term for the formal installation of an incumbent...
with the Order of Merit.
Children
1. (The hon.) Laura Jane Fellowes b. 19 July 1980.2. (The hon.) Alexander Robert Fellowes b. 23 March 1983, now a fourth year Classicist at Trinity College, Oxford
Trinity College, Oxford
The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
, was educated at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
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
Bullingdon Club
The Bullingdon Club is a socially exclusive student dining club at Oxford University. The club has no permanent rooms and is notorious for its members' wealth and destructive binges. Membership is by invitation only, and prohibitively expensive for most, given the need to pay for the uniform,...
drunken brawl was revealed December 2006 and revived March 2007 in a story about Conservative leader David Cameron.
3. (The hon.) Eleanor Ruth Fellowes b. 20 Aug 1985.
Sources and citations
Notes1. 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.
External links
- "My Secretary and I" James Whitaker article in The SpectatorThe SpectatorThe Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
, 6 June 1998.