George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, British aristocrat, magazine editor and arts administrator, first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II died he was , 88.

George Henry Hubert Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, KBE AM, styled The Hon. George Lascelles before 1929 and Viscount Lascelles between 1929 and 1947, was the elder son of the 6th Earl of Harewood (1882–1947), and Princess Mary, Princess Royal, the only daughter of King George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary. He had a younger brother, The Honourable Gerald Lascelles died he was , 88.. 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 23 May 1947.

(7 February 1923 – 11 July 2011^[2])

Early life

George Lascelles 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. His 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. He rose to the rank of captain. During World War II, he fought in Italy. The Germans captured and held him as a prisoner of war in Oflag IV-C (Colditz) from 1944 to 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

Marriages

On 29 September 1949, Lord Harewood married Marion Stein (originally called Maria Donata Stein when she was born 18 October 1926), a concert pianist and the daughter of the Viennese music publisher Erwin Stein. Their marriage produced 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. Marion 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. A Time magazine article published at the time suggested that the choice of a wedding location outside of England was due to the Church of England's views on divorce.^[5] They had one son:

• 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;^[6] they have 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 16 July 2011.^[7]

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 and as 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; artistic director of the Edinburgh, Adelaide and Leeds Festivals; 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. 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), The Tongs and the Bones (an autobiography, 1981), and Kobbé's Illustrated Opera Book (ed. 1989).
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.

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".^[8]

Further information

• 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.
• 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.
• According to the book "God Save The Queen", written by Alan Michie in 1952, "with the possible exception of Princess Margaret and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, he was probably the only member of the present royal family who could have won recognition in a competitive society where brains count more than breeding". (page 297)
• He served as chancellor of the University of York from 1962 to 1967.
• 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.
• He was ranked #1355 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2008 with an estimated wealth of £55m—his magnificent art treasures, held in trust and valued at more than £50m, and a 3,000 acres (12 km²) estate outside Leeds. The estate and house, Harewood House, are held by a charity with £9m of assets, and were not counted as part of his wealth.
• He was the origin of the nickname of the Colditz escaper Dominic Bruce, who for a joke persuaded Lascelles that the average height of Homo sapiens was five feet three inches (Bruce's own height). When Lascelles repeated this he was teased by the other Colditz inmates for his naïveté and Bruce was thenceforth always known as 'The Medium Sized Man'.^{[citation needed]}

Titles

• The Hon. George Lascelles (7 February 1923 – 6 October 1929)
• Viscount Lascelles (6 October 1929 – 24 May 1947)
• The Rt Hon. The Earl of Harewood (24 May 1947–1986)
• The Rt Hon. The Earl of Harewood, KBE (1986 – 1 July 2010)
• The Rt Hon. The Earl of Harewood, KBE AM (1 July 2010 – 11 July 2011)

 

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