Robert Fellowes, Baron Fellowes

Robert Fellowes, Baron Fellowes, GCB, GCVO, QSO, PC (born 11 December 1941) is a British courtier who was Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II from 1990 to 1999, and is also known as a brother-in-law of Diana, Princess of Wales and first cousin of Ronald Ferguson, the father of Sarah, Duchess of York.

Family background

Fellowes is the son of Scots Guards Major Sir William Fellowes, the Queen's Land Agent at Sandringham, and of his wife Jane Charlotte Ferguson, daughter of Brigadier-General Algernon Francis Holford Ferguson (great-grandfather of Sarah, Duchess of York). The Fellowes of Shotesham are an old country family, junior branch to the Lords De Ramsey (senior branch).

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, (born 19 July 1980), Alexander Robert Fellowes, (born 23 March 1983), and Eleanor Ruth Fellowes (born 20 August 1985).

Early career

Fellowes played cricket 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.

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.

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. He was created a life peer on 12 July 1999 taking the title Baron Fellowes, of Shotesham in the County of Norfolk in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. He sits as a crossbench peer.

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.

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 Trust. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth Institute. He was Chairman of The Voices Foundation from 2004 until 2012. He became Chair of the Prison Reform Trust in 2001.

Honours and decorations

Besides his life peerage, Lord Fellowes has received the following honours:

• Order of the Bath:
  • Companion (CB), 1987
  • Knight Commander (KCB), 1991
  • Knight Grand Cross (GCB), 1998
• Royal Victorian Order:
  • Lieutenant (LVO), 1983 (MVO before 31 December 1984)
  • Knight Commander (KCVO), 1989
  • Knight Grand Cross (GCVO), 1996
• Queen's Service Order (QSO), 1999

He was made a Privy Counsellor (PC) in 1990.

He remains the Secretary and Registrar of the Order of Merit as of 19 July 2016.

Arms