Lord Chamberlain of the Household | |
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![]() Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom | |
Lord Chamberlain's Office Royal Households of the United Kingdom | |
Member of | Royal Household of the United Kingdom |
Appointer | His Majesty The King |
Term length | At His Majesty's Pleasure |
Inaugural holder | Sir Thomas Erpingham |
Formation | c. 1399 |
Website | Official Website |
The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main channel of communication between the Sovereign and the House of Lords. The office organises all ceremonial activity such as garden parties, state visits, royal weddings, and the State Opening of Parliament. They also oversee the Royal Mews and Royal Travel, as well as the ceremony around the awarding of honours.
From 1737 to 1968, the Lord Chamberlain had the power to decide which plays would be granted a licence for performance; this meant that he had the capacity to censor theatre at his pleasure. [1]
The Lord Chamberlain is always sworn of the Privy Council, is usually a peer and before 1782 the post was of Cabinet rank. The position was a political one until 1924. The office dates from the Middle Ages when the King's Chamberlain often acted as the King's spokesman in Council and Parliament. [2]
The current Lord Chamberlain is The Lord Parker of Minsmere, who has been in office since 1 April 2021.
During the early modern period, the Lord Chamberlain was one of the three principal officers of the Royal Household, the others being the Lord Steward and the Master of the Horse. The Lord Chamberlain was responsible for the "chamber" or the household "above stairs": that is, the series of rooms used by the Sovereign to receive increasingly select visitors, terminating in the royal bedchamber (although the bedchamber itself came to operate semi-autonomously under the Groom of the Stool/Stole). His department not only furnished the servants and other personnel (such as physicians and bodyguards, the Yeomen of the Guard and Gentlemen Pensioners) in intimate attendance on the Sovereign but arranged and staffed ceremonies and entertainments for the court. He also had (secular) authority over the Chapel Royal. In 1782, under the terms of the Civil List and Secret Service Money Act (22 Geo. III c.82), the Lord Chamberlain took on direct responsibility for items kept and maintained by the Great Wardrobe and the Jewel House (whereby these formerly semi-independent sub-departments were abolished). [3]
As other responsibilities of government were devolved to ministers, the ordering of the Royal Household was largely left to the personal taste of the Sovereign. To ensure that the chamber reflected the royal tastes, the Lord Chamberlain received commands directly from the sovereign to be transmitted to the heads of subordinate departments. [3]
In 1594, the Lord Chamberlain, Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, founded the Lord Chamberlain's Men, for which William Shakespeare was a part (and later a shareholder in the company) and for whom he wrote most of his plays during his career. Carey served under Elizabeth I of England at the time and was in charge of all court entertainment, a duty traditionally given to the Master of the Revels, a deputy of the Lord Chamberlain. Later, in 1603, James I of England, elevated the Chamberlain's Men to royal patronage and changed the name to the King's Men. [4]
In 1737, Sir Robert Walpole officially introduced statutory censorship with the Licensing Act of 1737 by appointing the Lord Chamberlain to act as the theatrical censor. The Licensing Act 1737 gave the Lord Chamberlain the statutory authority to veto the performance of any new plays: he could prevent any new play, or any modification to an existing play, from being performed for any reason, and theatre owners could be prosecuted for staging a play (or part of a play) that had not received prior approval.
Historically though, the Lord Chamberlain had been exercising a commanding authority on London's theatre companies under the Royal Prerogative for many decades already. But by the 1730s the theatre was not controlled by royal patronage anymore. Instead it had become more of a commercial business. Therefore, the fact the Lord Chamberlain still retained censorship authority for the next 200 years gave him uniquely repressive authority during a period where Britain was experiencing "growing political enfranchisement and liberalization". [5]
Even further confusion rested in the fact that Members of Parliament could not present changes to the censorship laws because although the Lord Chamberlain exercised his authority under statute law, he was still an official whose authority was derived from the Royal Prerogative. [5]
By the 1830s, it started to become clear that the theatre licensing system in England needed an upgrade. Playwrights, instead of representatives of minor theatres, actually initiated the final push for reform as they felt that their livelihoods were being negatively affected by the monopoly the larger theatres had on the industry, backed by the laws in the 1737 Act. [5]
A Select Committee was formed in 1832 with the purpose of examining the laws that affected dramatic literature. Their main complaints were the lack of copyright protection for their work and more importantly that only two patent theatres in London could legitimately perform new plays. After more pressure from playwrights and theatre managers, the findings of the committee were finally presented to Parliament. [5]
It was the proposals of this committee that Parliament implemented in the Theatres Act of 1843. The Act still confirmed the absolute powers of censorship enjoyed by the Lord Chamberlain but still slightly restricted his powers so that he could only prohibit the performance of plays where he was of the opinion that "it is fitting for the preservation of good manners, decorum or of the public peace so to do". The Act, however, did abolish the monopoly that the patent houses had in London, providing a minor win for playwrights and theatre managers wishing to produce new work. [5] [1]
In 1909, a Joint Select Committee on Stage Plays (Censorship) was established and recommended that the Lord Chamberlain should continue to act as censor but that it could be lawful to perform plays without a licence from the Lord Chamberlain. [1] However, King Edward VII refused to accept these recommendations. The outbreak of both World Wars put an end to any parliamentary initiatives to change the laws regarding theatre censorship for many years. In 1948, the first British Theatre Conference recommended the termination of theatre censorship with the plan to pursue parliamentary action to ratify this. [1] [5]
In the 1960s the debate to abolish theatre censorship rose again as a new generation of young playwrights came on the scene. They gained popularity with their new plays in local establishments, but since many were refused a licence by the Lord Chamberlain, they could not transfer to the West End. In the case of John Osborne's play A Patriot for Me , the Lord Chamberlain at the time, Lord Cobbold, was irritated that the play was so widely publicized even though he had banned it and therefore pursued legal action. In the end, the play was allowed to continue as it was. At this point, several widely regarded authors had all been censored by the Lord Chamberlain at one time or another, including playwrights Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. Sometimes censorship was self-serving. A comedy written for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the early 1960s had, as its plot, a jocular scheme to steal the Crown jewels. The Lord Chamberlain issued a one-line letter requiring the excision of that plot element. As Michael Palin, one of its authors and performers notes, that meant banning the entire production. [6] Another Joint Select Committee was founded to further debate on the issue and present a solution. This time the argument largely centered around this issue on the portrayal of living and recently dead individuals, particularly in reference to the monarchy as well as politicians. [1] [5]
After much debate, the Theatres Act 1968 was finally passed; it officially abolished the censorship of the stage and repealed the Lord Chamberlain's power to refuse a licence to a play of any kind. [1] The first London performance of the musical Hair was actually delayed until the Act was passed after a licence had been refused. [7]
The battle regarding the abolition of censorship was largely a political one, fought on principle. Those who opposed the termination of this particular duty of the Lord Chamberlain were mostly concerned about how to protect the reputation of the royal family and the government instead of controlling obscenity and blasphemy on stage. However, this concern has largely been unfounded. Since the termination of censorship, British drama has flourished and produced several prominent playwrights and new works since. The abolition of censorship opened a floodgate of theatrical creativity. [5]
The long standing role of the Lord Chamberlain as theatrical censor resulted in an extensive archive of both licensed and unlicensed play scripts being preserved. [8] The collection held at the British Library also includes correspondence and administrative documents related to the censorship process. [9]
The Lord Chamberlain is the most senior official of the Royal Household and oversees its business, including liaising with the other senior officers of the Household, chairing Heads of Department meetings, and advising in the appointment of senior Household officials. [2] [10] The Lord Chamberlain also undertakes ceremonial duties and serves as the channel of communication between the Sovereign and the House of Lords. [2]
Under Lord Airlie, the Lord Chamberlain’s ceremonial and non-executive role was altered to that of chief executive. [11] Airlie initiated changes in the early 1990s under the auspices of "The Way Ahead Group". [12] Under these plans the Queen agreed to pay tax, greater transparency for the public subsidy of the monarchy began and a greater emphasis on public relations started. [13] In 1986, he produced a 1,393-page report recommending 188 changes for smoother operations of the Royal Household. [14]
The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department of the Royal Household and its day-to-day work is headed by the Comptroller. It is responsible for organizing ceremonial activities including state visits, investitures, garden parties, the State Opening of Parliament, weddings and funerals. [2]
On State and ceremonial occasions, the Lord Chamberlain carries specific symbols that represent his office: a white staff and a key (which is worn at the hip pocket). These insignia are returned to the monarch when the Lord Chamberlain retires from office; [15] but if the monarch dies, the white staff is symbolically broken by the Lord Chamberlain and placed on the coffin of the deceased Sovereign at the end of the State Funeral service. This was last done by the Lord Parker of Minsmere, who broke his staff over the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. [2] [10]
The Lord Chamberlain is ex-officio the Chancellor of the Royal Victorian Order, having possession of a Badge corresponding to that office. [16] As such, they are often appointed to the said Order either upon appointment as Lord Chamberlain, or later in their career. The Lord Chamberlain also regulates the design and the wearing of court uniform and dress and how insignia are worn.
Name | Began | Ended | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sir Thomas Erpingham | 1399 | 1404 | [17] | |
The Lord Grey of Codnor | 1404 | 1413 | [17] | |
The Lord FitzHugh | 1413 | 1425 | [17] | |
The Lord Cromwell | c. 1425 | 1432 | First period in office | [17] |
The Lord Bardolf | 1432 | 1441 | [17] | |
Sir Ralph Boteler, from 1441 The Lord Sudeley | 1441 | 1447 | [17] | |
The Lord Saye and Sele | 1447 | 1450 | [17] | |
The Lord Cromwell | 1450 | 1455 | Second period in office | [17] |
Thomas Stanley, from 1456 The Lord Stanley | 1455 | 1459 | [17] | |
The Earl of Salisbury | 1460 | 1460 | [17] | |
The Lord Hastings | 1461 | 1470 | First period in office | [17] |
Unknown | 1470 | 1471 | Second reign of Henry VI | |
The Lord Hastings | 1471 | 1483 | Second period in office | [17] |
The Viscount Lovell | 1483 | 1485 | [17] | |
Sir William Stanley | 1485 | 1494 | [17] | |
Lord Daubeney | 1494 | 1508 | [17] | |
The Lord Herbert, from 1514 The Earl of Worcester | 1509 | 1526 | [17] | |
The Earl of Arundel | 1526 | 1530 | ||
The Lord Sandys | 1530 | 1540 | [17] | |
Vacant | 1540 | 1543 | [17] | |
The Lord St John | 1543 | 1545 | Created The Earl of Wiltshire in 1550 and The Marquess of Winchester in 1551 | [17] |
Unknown | 1545 | 1546 | ||
The Earl of Arundel | 1546 | 1550 | [17] | |
The Lord Wentworth | 1550 | 1551 | [17] | |
The Lord Darcy of Chiche | 1551 | 1553 | [17] | |
Sir John Gage | 1553 | 1556 | [17] | |
Unknown | 1556 | 1557 | ||
Sir Edward Hastings from 1558 The Lord Hastings of Loughborough | 1557 | 1558 | [17] | |
The Lord Howard of Effingham | 1558 | 1572 | [17] | |
The Earl of Sussex | 1572 | 1585 | [17] | |
The Lord Hunsdon | 1585 | 1596 | Founded the famous Lord Chamberlain's Men for whom Shakespeare wrote for most of his career. | [17] [4] |
The Lord Cobham | 1596 | 1597 | [17] | |
The Lord Hunsdon | 1597 | 1603 | [17] | |
Lord Thomas Howard, from 1603 The Earl of Suffolk | 1603 | 1614 | [17] | |
The Earl of Somerset | 1614 | 1615 | [17] | |
The Earl of Pembroke | 1615 | 1626 | [17] | |
The Earl of Montgomery, from 1630 The Earl of Pembroke | 1626 | 1641 | [17] | |
The Earl of Essex | 1641 | 1642 | [17] | |
Unknown | 1642 | 1644 | ||
The Earl of Dorset | 1644 | 1649 | [17] | |
Vacant | 1649 | 1655 | Position became vacant at the start of the Interregnum and the Commonwealth | |
Sir Gilbert Pickering, Bt | 1655 | 1659 | Lord Chamberlain during The Protectorate | [17] |
The Earl of Manchester | 1660 | 1671 | [17] | |
The Earl of St Albans | 1672 | 1674 | [17] | |
The Earl of Arlington | 1674 | 1685 | [17] | |
The Earl of Elgin and Earl of Ailesbury | 1685 | 1685 | [17] | |
The Earl of Mulgrave | 1685 | 1688 | Created The Marquess of Normanby in 1694 and The Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in 1703 | [17] |
The Earl of Dorset | 1689 | 1697 | [17] | |
The Earl of Sunderland | 1697 | 1697 | [17] | |
Vacant | 1697 | 1699 | The King did not accept the resignation of the Earl of Sunderland | |
The Duke of Shrewsbury | 1699 | 1700 | [17] | |
The Earl of Jersey | 1700 | 1704 | [17] | |
The Earl of Kent from 1706 The Marquess of Kent | 1704 | 1710 | Created The Duke of Kent in 1710 and The Marquess Grey in 1740 | [17] |
The Duke of Shrewsbury | 1710 | 1715 | [17] | |
The Duke of Bolton | 1715 | 1717 | [17] | |
The Duke of Newcastle | 1717 | 1724 | [17] | |
The Duke of Grafton | 1724 | 1757 | [17] | |
The Duke of Devonshire | 1757 | 1762 | [17] | |
The Duke of Marlborough | 1762 | 1763 | [17] | |
The Earl Gower | 1763 | 1765 | Created The Marquess of Stafford in 1786 | [17] |
The Duke of Portland | 1765 | 1766 | [17] | |
The Earl of Hertford | 1766 | 1782 | First period in office; created The Marquess of Hertford in 1793 | [17] |
The Duke of Manchester | 1782 | 1783 | [17] | |
The Earl of Hertford | 1783 | 1783 | Second period in office; created The Marquess of Hertford in 1793 | [17] [18] |
The Earl of Salisbury, from 1789 The Marquess of Salisbury | 1783 | 1804 | ||
The Earl of Dartmouth | 1804 | 1810 | [17] | |
Vacant | 1810 | 1812 | ||
The Marquess of Hertford | 1812 | 1821 | [17] [19] | |
The Duke of Montrose | 1821 | 1827 | First period in office | [17] [20] |
The Duke of Devonshire | 1827 | 1828 | First period in office | [17] |
The Duke of Montrose | 1828 | 1830 | Second period in office | [17] |
The Earl of Jersey | 1830 | 1830 | First period in office | [17] |
The Duke of Devonshire | 1830 | 1834 | Second period in office | [17] |
The Earl of Jersey | 1834 | 1835 | Second period in office | [17] [21] |
The Marquess Wellesley | 1835 | 1835 | [17] | |
The Marquess Conyngham | 1835 | 1839 | ||
Earl of Uxbridge | 1839 | 1841 | Succeeded as The Marquess of Anglesey in 1854 | |
The Earl De La Warr | 1841 | 1846 | First period in office | [17] |
The Earl Spencer | 1846 | 1848 | [17] [22] | |
The Marquess of Breadalbane | 1848 | 1852 | First period in office | [17] [23] |
The Marquess of Exeter | 1852 | 1852 | [24] | |
The Marquess of Breadalbane | 1853 | 1858 | Second period in office | [17] [25] |
The Earl De La Warr | 1858 | 1859 | Second period in office | [17] [26] |
The Viscount Sydney | 1859 | 1866 | First period in office | [27] |
The Earl of Bradford | 1866 | 1868 | [28] | |
The Viscount Sydney | 1868 | 1874 | Second period in office; created The Earl Sydney in 1874 | [29] |
The Marquess of Hertford | 1874 | 1879 | [30] | |
The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe | 1879 | 1880 | [31] | |
The Earl of Kenmare | 1880 | 1885 | First period in office | [32] |
The Earl of Lathom | 1885 | 1886 | First period in office | [33] |
The Earl of Kenmare | 1886 | 1886 | Second period in office | [34] |
The Earl of Lathom | 1886 | 1892 | Second period in office | [35] |
The Lord Carrington | 1892 | 1895 | Created The Earl Carrington in 1895 and The Marquess of Lincolnshire in 1912 | [17] |
The Earl of Lathom | 1895 | 1898 | Third period in office | [36] |
The Earl of Hopetoun | 1898 | 1900 | Created The Marquess of Linlithgow in 1902 | [17] |
The Earl of Clarendon | 1900 | 1905 | [37] | |
The Viscount Althorp from 1910 The Earl Spencer | 1905 | 1912 | [38] | |
The Lord Sandhurst from 1917 The Viscount Sandhurst | 1912 | 1921 | [39] | |
The Duke of Atholl | 1921 | 1922 | [17] [40] | |
The Earl of Cromer | 1922 | 1938 | [17] | |
The Earl of Clarendon | 1938 | 1952 | [17] | |
The Earl of Scarbrough | 1952 | 1963 | [17] | |
The Lord Cobbold | 29 January 1963 | 30 November 1971 | [17] [41] | |
The Lord Maclean | 1 December 1971 | 30 November 1984 | [17] [42] | |
The Earl of Airlie | 1 December 1984 | 31 December 1997 | [43] | |
The Lord Camoys | 1 January 1998 | 31 May 2000 | ||
The Lord Luce | 1 October 2000 | 15 October 2006 | ||
The Earl Peel | 16 October 2006 | 31 March 2021 | [44] | |
The Lord Parker of Minsmere | 1 April 2021 | present | [45] |
The Master of the Revels was the holder of a position within the English, and later the British, royal household, heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels". The Master of the Revels was an executive officer under the Lord Chamberlain. Originally he was responsible for overseeing royal festivities, known as revels, and he later also became responsible for stage censorship, until this function was transferred to the Lord Chamberlain in 1624. However, Henry Herbert, the deputy Master of the Revels and later the Master, continued to perform the function on behalf of the Lord Chamberlain until the English Civil War in 1642, when stage plays were prohibited. The office continued almost until the end of the 18th century, although with rather reduced status.
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The Licensing Act 1737 is a former Act of Parliament in the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a pivotal moment in British theatrical history. Its purpose was to control and censor what was being said about the British government through theatre. The act was repealed by the Theatres Act 1843, which was itself replaced by the Theatres Act 1968. The Lord Chamberlain was the official censor and the office of Examiner of Plays was created under the Act. The Examiner assisted the Lord Chamberlain in the task of censoring all plays from 1737 to 1968. The Examiner read all plays which were to be publicly performed, produced a synopsis and recommended them for licence, consulting the Lord Chamberlain in cases of doubt. The act also created a legal distinction between categories of "legitimate theatre" and "illegitimate theatre".
The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department within the British Royal Household. It is concerned with matters such as protocol, state visits, investitures, garden parties, royal weddings and funerals. For example, in April 2005 it organised the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles. It is also responsible for authorising use of the Royal Arms and other royal symbols.
The Theatres Act 1968 abolished stage censorship in the United Kingdom, receiving royal assent on 26 July 1968, after passing both Houses of Parliament.
William James Robert Peel, 3rd Earl Peel,, styled Viscount Clanfield until 1969, is a British hereditary peer who was a Conservative peer from 15 May 1973 until October 2006 when, on his appointment as Lord Chamberlain of the Royal Household, he became a crossbench (non-partisan) member of the House of Lords.
Fallen Angels is a comedy by the English playwright Noël Coward. It opened at the Globe Theatre, London on 21 April 1925 and ran until 29 August. The central theme of two wives admitting to premarital sex and contemplating adultery met hostility from the office of the official theatre censor, the Lord Chamberlain, and the necessary licence was granted only after the personal intervention of the Chamberlain.
The Historical Register for the Year 1736 is a 1737 play by Henry Fielding. A denunciation of contemporary society and politics, most notably prime minister Sir Robert Walpole, it was performed for the first time in April 1737 and published shortly thereafter by J. Roberts in London according to the book's title page.
Groom of the Chamber was a position in the Household of the monarch in early modern England. Other Ancien Régime royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In France, the Duchy of Burgundy, and in England while French was still the language of the court, the title was varlet or valet de chambre. In German, Danish and Russian the term was "Kammerjunker" and in Swedish the similar "Kammarjunkare".
The Theatres Act 1843 is a defunct Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It amended the regime established under the Licensing Act 1737 for the licensing of the theatre in Great Britain, implementing the proposals made by a select committee of the House of Commons in 1832.
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The Whim is a play written by Eglantine Wallace in 1795. The play was banned under the Licensing Act 1737 and never performed. It was published that same year with an indignant subtitle and went into a second edition:
With an address to the public, upon the arbitrary and unjust aspersion of the licenser against its political sentiments. Offered to be acted for the benefit of the Hospital and Poor of the Isle of Thanet, but refused The Royal Licence.
In the United Kingdom, the Great Officers of State are traditional ministers of the Crown who either inherit their positions or are appointed to exercise certain largely ceremonial functions or to operate as members of the government. Separate Great Officers exist for England and Wales, Scotland, and formerly for Ireland, though some exist for Great Britain and the United Kingdom as a whole.
The Lord Chamberlain's plays are a collection of manuscripts held by the British Library comprising scripts of all new plays in Britain that needed to be approved for performance by the Lord Chamberlain, a senior official of the British royal household, between 1824 and 1968. This was a requirement of both the Licensing Act 1737 and the Theatres Act 1843, though his office was not legally entitled to retain the texts until 1912.