Lord Great Chamberlain

Not to be confused with the Lord Chamberlain.

The Lord Great Chamberlain of England^[1] is the sixth of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal but above the Lord High Constable. The office of Lord Great Chamberlain is an ancient one: it was first created around 1126 (in Norman times) and has been in continuous existence since 1138. The incumbent is Rupert Carington, 7th Baron Carrington.

Lord Great Chamberlain of England
Incumbent Rupert Carington, 7th Baron Carrington since 8 September 2022 Joint hereditary officeholders Cholmondeley share: The 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley (50%) Ancaster share: The 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby (25%) Carrington share: The 10th Earl of Albemarle (5%) Nicholas Llewellen Palmer (5%) Harry Legge-Bourke (5%) Lorraine Wilson (1.66%) Tatiana Dent (1.66%) Ines Garton (1.66%) The 8th Marquess of Donegall (1%) Jan Witold Kwiatkowski (1%) Mark Hamilton-Russell (1%) Christopher Findlay (1%) Michael Basset (1%) Last updated 14 February 2025
Style	The Right Honourable
Type	Great Officer of State
Appointer	The Monarch
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	c. 1126
First holder	Robert Malet
Superseded by	Lord High Treasurer (in monetary affairs)
Succession	Hereditary
Salary	Unpaid

Duties

The Lord Great Chamberlain, Lord Carrington, on the occasion of a royal visit to the Palace of Westminster in 2023 (wearing his scarlet court uniform with gold key insignia and carrying his wand of office).

The Lord Great Chamberlain is entrusted by the Sovereign with custody of the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the British Parliament, and serves as his or her representative therein.^[2] The Lord Great Chamberlain enjoys plenary jurisdiction in those precincts of the Palace of Westminster not assigned to either the House of Lords or the House of Commons: namely, the Royal Apartments, Central Lobby, and the Crypt Chapel. To this end, the Lord Great Chamberlain is responsible for the use, preservation, and occupation of such spaces.^[a] In addition, the Lord Great Chamberlain is one of the three commissioners who exercise control and maintenance over Westminster Hall; the other commissioners are the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords and the Speaker of the House of Commons.^[4]

The Lord Great Chamberlain performs other less routine functions as custodian of the Palace of Westminster. For example, the Lord Great Chamberlain welcomes foreign heads of state visiting the Palace of Westminster. Likewise, the Lord Great Chamberlain is responsible for attending upon the Sovereign and other members of the British royal family whenever present at the parliamentary estate. In the latter case, the Lord Great Chamberlain is authorised to make any administrative arrangements necessary for delivery of services required by the Sovereign.^[5][6]

However, the Lord Great Chamberlain’s most publicly visible parliamentary role is participating in state openings of Parliament. To this end, the Lord Great Chamberlain receives the Sovereign at the Norman Porch, enrobes him or her with the Robe of State and the Imperial State Crown in the Robing Room, and leads the Sovereign’s procession through the Royal Gallery and the Prince's Chamber into the Lords Chamber.^[7] It is also the Lord Great Chamberlain who, upon the command of the Sovereign, directs Black Rod to summon members of the House of Commons to attend the House of Lords for the purpose of hearing the speech from the throne.^[8]

Parliamentary responsibilities aside, the Lord Great Chamberlain also has a major part to play in royal coronations, having the right to dress the monarch on coronation day and to serve the monarch water before and after the coronation banquet. Likewise, the Lord Great Chamberlain invests the monarch with the insignia of rule during the coronation service.^[9][10] On state occasions like coronations, the Lord Great Chamberlain wears a distinctive scarlet court uniform and bears a gold key and a white staff as the insignia of his office.^[11]

The office of Lord Great Chamberlain is distinct from the non-hereditary office of Lord Chamberlain of the Household, a position in the monarch's household. This office arose in the 14th century as a deputy of the Lord Great Chamberlain to fulfil the latter's duties in the Royal Household, but now they are quite distinct.^{[citation needed]}

The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, but the Act provided that a hereditary peer exercising the office of Lord Great Chamberlain (as well as the Earl Marshal) be exempt from such a rule, in order to perform ceremonial functions.^{[citation needed]}

Succession

The position is a hereditary one, held since 1780 in gross. At any one time, no single person actually exercises the office of Lord Great Chamberlain. The various individuals who hold fractions of the office are properly each Joint Hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain. They choose one individual of the rank of a knight or higher to be the Deputy Lord Great Chamberlain.^[12][13] Under an agreement made in 1912, the right to exercise the office for a given reign rotates among three families (of the then three joint office holders) in proportion to the fraction of the office held. For instance, the Marquesses of Cholmondeley hold one-half of the office, and may therefore exercise the office or appoint a deputy every alternate reign. Whenever one of the three shares of the 1912 agreement is split further, the joint heirs of this share have to agree among each other, who should be their deputy or any mechanism to determine who of them has the right to choose a deputy.

History of the office

The Lord Great Chamberlain, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley (left), holding his white staff of office; the Lord Speaker, Baroness Hayman; and the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, showing US President Barack Obama around Members' Lobby during a tour of the Palace in May 2011.

The office was originally held by Robert Malet, a son of one of the leading companions of William the Conqueror. In 1133, however, Henry I declared Malet's estates and titles forfeit, and awarded the office of Lord Great Chamberlain to Aubrey de Vere, whose son was created Earl of Oxford. Thereafter, the Earls of Oxford held the title almost continuously until 1526, with a few intermissions due to the forfeiture of some earls for treason. In 1526, however, John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford died, leaving his aunts as his heirs. The earldom was inherited by a more distant heir-male, his second cousin. Henry VIII then decreed that the office belonged to the Crown, and was not transmitted along with the earldom. The King appointed John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford to the office, but the appointment was deemed for life and was not hereditary. The family's association with the office was interrupted in 1540, when the 15th Earl died and Thomas Cromwell, the King's chief adviser, was appointed Lord Great Chamberlain.^[14] After Cromwell's attainder and execution later the same year, the office passed through a few more court figures, until 1553, when it was passed back to the de Vere family to John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford, again as an uninheritable life appointment.^[15] Later, Mary I ruled that the Earls of Oxford were indeed entitled to the office of Lord Great Chamberlain on an hereditary basis.

Thus, the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth Earls of Oxford held the position on a hereditary basis until 1626, when Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford died, again leaving a distant relative as heir male, but a closer one as a female heir. The House of Lords eventually ruled that the office belonged to the heir general, Robert Bertie, 14th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, who later became Earl of Lindsey. The office remained vested in the Earls of Lindsey, who later became Dukes of Ancaster and Kesteven.

In 1779, however, Robert Bertie, 4th Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven died, leaving two sisters as female heirs, and an uncle as an heir male. The uncle became the 5th and last Duke, but the House of Lords ruled that the two sisters were jointly Lord Great Chamberlain and could appoint a Deputy to fulfil the functions of the office. The barony of Willoughby de Eresby fell into abeyance between the two sisters, but George III terminated the abeyance and granted the title to the elder sister, Priscilla Bertie, 21st Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. The office of Lord Great Chamberlain, however, was divided between Priscilla and her younger sister Georgiana. Priscilla's share was eventually split between two of her granddaughters, and has been split several more times since then. By contrast, Georgiana's share has been inherited by a single male heir each time; that individual has in each case been the Marquess of Cholmondeley, a title created for Georgiana's husband.

20th and 21st centuries

6 May 2023: Lord Carrington (Lord Great Chamberlain since 2022) on his way to the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla (with Baroness Manningham Buller.

In 1902 it was ruled by the House of Lords that the then joint office holders (Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster, George Cholmondeley, 4th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and Charles Wynn-Carrinton, 1st Earl Carrington, later Marquess of Lincolnshire) had to agree on a deputy to exercise the office, subject to the approval of the Sovereign. Should there be no such agreement, the Sovereign should appoint a deputy until an agreement be reached.^[16]

In 1912 an agreement was reached. The office, or right to appoint the person to exercise the office, would thereafter rotate among the three joint office holders and their heirs after them, changing at the start of each successive reign. Cholmondeley and his heirs would serve in every other reign; Ancaster and Carrington would each serve once in four reigns.^[17]

As the Cholmondeley share and the Ancaster share (held since 1983 by Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby) are not further split, each of these holders decides in his or her turn to act as Lord Great Chamberlain or to name a person who will act as Lord Great Chamberlain. The Carrington share was divided at his death among his five daughters and their heirs, and has since been further divided, with 11 people holding shares as of September 2022. At accession of Charles III the turn fell to the Carrington heirs who named their cousin Rupert Carington, 7th Baron Carrington, to act as Lord Great Chamberlain.^[18][19][20] Being descended from the Earl's younger brother he himself has no share of the office.

On 6 May 2023, the Lord Great Chamberlain presented spurs to King Charles III as part of Charles' coronation. The spurs were included among the first English coronation ornaments in 1189 and were used during the coronation of Richard I.^[21]

Lord Great Chamberlains, 1130–1779

Portrait	Name	Term of office		Monarch (reign)
	Robert Malet	1130	1133	Henry I (1100–1135)
	Aubrey de Vere II	1133	1141
				Stephen (1135–1154)
	Aubrey de Vere 1st Earl of Oxford	1141	1194
				Henry II (1154–1189)
				Richard I (1189–1199)
	Aubrey de Vere 2nd Earl of Oxford	1194	1214
				John (1199–1216)
	Robert de Vere 3rd Earl of Oxford	1214	1221
				Henry III (1216–1272)
	Hugh de Vere 4th Earl of Oxford	1221	1263
	Robert de Vere 5th Earl of Oxford	1263	1265
	unclear, perhaps vacant	1265	1267
	unclear, perhaps again Robert de Vere 5th Earl of Oxford	1267	1296
				Edward I (1272–1307)
	Robert de Vere 6th Earl of Oxford	1296	1331
				Edward II (1307–1327)
				Edward III (1327–1377)
	John de Vere 7th Earl of Oxford	1331	1360
	Thomas de Vere 8th Earl of Oxford	1360	1371
	Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland KG	1371	1388
				Richard II (1377–1399)
	John Holland 1st Duke of Exeter	1398	1399
	Aubrey de Vere 10th Earl of Oxford	1399	1400	Henry IV (1399–1413)
	Richard de Vere 11th Earl of Oxford	1400	1417
				Henry V (1413–1422)
	John de Vere 12th Earl of Oxford	1417	1462
				Henry VI (1422–1461)
				Edward IV (1461–1470)
	John de Vere 13th Earl of Oxford KG KB	1462	1464
	Richard Neville 16th Earl of Warwick KG	1464[22]	1471
				Henry VI (1470–1471)
	unclear	1471	1475	Edward IV (1471–1483)
	Henry Percy 4th Earl of Northumberland	1475	1485
				Edward V (1483)
				Richard III (1483–1485)
	John de Vere 13th Earl of Oxford KG KB	1485[23]	1513	Henry VII (1485–1509)
				Henry VIII (1509–1547)
	John de Vere 14th Earl of Oxford	1513	1526
	John de Vere 15th Earl of Oxford KG PC	1526	1540
	Thomas Cromwell 1st Earl of Essex KG PC	1540	1540
	Robert Radcliffe 1st Earl of Sussex KG KB PC	1540[24]	1542
	Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset KG	1543[25]	1547
	John Dudley 1st Duke of Northumberland KG	1547[26]	1549	Edward VI (1547–1553)
	William Parr 1st Marquess of Northampton KG	1549[27]	1553
	John de Vere 16th Earl of Oxford	1553	1562	Mary I (1553–1558)
				Elizabeth I (1558–1603)
	Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford	1562	1604
				James I (1603–1625)
	Henry de Vere 18th Earl of Oxford	1604	1625
	Robert Bertie 1st Earl of Lindsay	1625	1642	Charles I (1625–1649)
	Montagu Bertie 2nd Earl of Lindsay KG PC	1642	1666
				Interregnum (1649–1660)
				Charles II (1660–1685)
	Robert Bertie 3rd Earl of Lindsay PC FRS	1666	1701
				James II (1685–1688)
				Mary II (1689–1694) William III (1689–1702)
	Robert Bertie 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven PC	1701	1723
				Anne (1702–1714)
				George I (1714–1727)
	Peregrine Bertie 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven PC	1723	1742
				George II (1727–1760)
	Peregrine Bertie 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven PC	1742	1778
				George III (1760–1820)
	Robert Bertie 4th Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven PC	1778	1779

Joint hereditary Lord Great Chamberlains, 1780–present

The fractions show the holder's share in the office, and the date they held it. The current (as of 2022^[update]) holders of the office are shown in bold face.

Joint hereditary Lord Great Chamberlains, 1780–present

Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven Priscilla Bertie, 21st Baroness Willoughby de Eresby 1⁄2 1780–1828 Georgiana Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley 1⁄2 1780–1838 Peter Drummond-Burrell, 22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby 1⁄2 1828–1865 George Cholmondeley, 2nd Marquess of Cholmondeley 1⁄2 1838–1870 William Cholmondeley, 3rd Marquess of Cholmondeley 1⁄2 1870–1884 Albyric Drummond-Willoughby, 23rd Baron Willoughby de Eresby 1⁄2 1865–1870 Clementina Drummond-Willoughby, 24th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby 1⁄4 1870–1888 Charlotte Augusta Carrington, Lady Carrington 1⁄4 1870–1879 Charles George Cholmondeley Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster 1⁄4 1888–1910 Charles Wynn-Carington, 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire 1⁄4 1879–1928 George Cholmondeley, 4th Marquess of Cholmondeley 1⁄2 1884–1923 Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 2nd Earl of Ancaster 1⁄4 1910–1951 Marjorie Wilson, Baroness Nunburnholme 1⁄20 1928–1968 Lady Alexandra Llewellen Palmer 1⁄20 1928–1955 Ruperta Legge, Countess of Dartmouth 1⁄20 1928–1963 Judith Keppel, Countess of Albemarle Lady Victoria Weld-Forester 1⁄20 1928–1966 George Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley 1⁄2 1923–1968 James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 3rd Earl of Ancaster 1⁄4 1951–1983 Charles Wilson, 3rd Baron Nunburnholme 1⁄20 1968–1974 Brig. Anthony Llewellen Palmer 1⁄20 1955–1990 Col. Charles Timothy Llewellen Palmer Lady Mary Findlay 1⁄100 1963–2003 Lady Elizabeth Basset 1⁄100 1963–2000 Lady Diana Matthews 1⁄100 1963–1970 Lady Barbara Kwiatkowska 1⁄100 1963–2013 Josceline Chichester, Marchioness of Donegall 1⁄100 1963–1995 Derek Keppel, Viscount Bury 1⁄20 1928–1968 Sir Henry Legge-Bourke 1⁄20 1966–1973 Hugh Cholmondeley, 6th Marquess of Cholmondeley 1⁄2 1968–1990 Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby 1⁄4 1983–present Ben Wilson, 4th Baron Nunburnholme 1⁄20 1974–1998 Julian Llewellen Palmer 1⁄20 1990–2002 Cdr Jonathan Findlay 1⁄100 2003–2015 Bryan Basset 1⁄100 2000–2010 Col James Hamilton-Russell 1⁄100 1970–2025 Jan Witold Kwiatkowski 1⁄100 2013–present Patrick Chichester, 8th Marquess of Donegall 1⁄100 1995–present Rufus Keppel, 10th Earl of Albemarle 1⁄20 1968–present William Legge-Bourke 1⁄20 1973–2009 David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley 1⁄2 1990–present The Hon. Lorraine Wilson 1⁄80 1998–2022 1⁄60 2022–present The Hon. Tatiana Dent 1⁄80 1998–2022 1⁄60 2022–present The Hon. Ines Garton 1⁄80 1998–2022 1⁄60 2022–present The Hon. Ysabel Williams 1⁄80 1998–2022 Nicholas Llewellen Palmer 1⁄20 2002–present Christopher Findlay 1⁄100 2015–present David Basset 1⁄100 2010 Michael James Basset 1⁄100 2010–present Mark Hamilton-Russell 1⁄100 2025-present Capt. Harry Legge-Bourke 1⁄20 2009–present

Persons exercising the office of Lord Great Chamberlain, 1780–present

Portrait	Name	Term of office		Monarch (reign)
	Peter Burrell 1st Baron Gwydyr	1780	1820	George III (1760–1820)
				George IV (1820–1830)
	Peter Drummond-Burrell 22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby PC	1821	1830
	George Cholmondeley 2nd Marquess of Cholmondeley PC	1830	1837	William IV (1830–1837)
	Peter Drummond-Burrell 22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby PC	1837	1865	Victoria (1837–1901)
	Albyric Drummond-Willoughby 23rd Baron Willoughby de Eresby	1865	1870
	Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby 25th Baron Willoughby de Eresby PC	1871	1901
	George Cholmondeley 4th Marquess of Cholmondeley PC DL	1901	1910	Edward VII (1901–1910)
	Charles Wynn-Carington 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire KG GCMG PC JP DL	1910	1928	George V (1910–1936)
	William Legge Viscount Lewisham GCVO TD	1928	1936
	George Cholmondeley 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley GCVO	1936		Edward VIII (1936)
	Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby 2nd Earl of Ancaster GCVO JP DL	1936	1951	George VI (1936–1952)
	James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby 3rd Earl of Ancaster TD	1951	1952
	George Cholmondeley 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley GCVO	1952	1966	Elizabeth II (1952–2022)
	Hugh Cholmondeley 6th Marquess of Cholmondeley GCVO MC DL	1966	1990
	David Cholmondeley 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley GCVO DL	1990	2022
	Rupert Carington 7th Baron Carrington DL	2022	present	Charles III (2022–present)

Notes

1. From the Restoration until 1963, the Lord Great Chamberlain was responsible for physical plant and facility management throughout the Palace of Westminster, in effect serving as a property manager for the entire parliamentary estate.^[3]