Christopher Geidt, Baron Geidt

Christopher Edward Wollaston MacKenzie Geidt, Baron Geidt, GCB, GCVO, OBE, QSO, PC (born 17 August 1961), is a member of the House of Lords and Chairman of King's College London.[1][2][3][4] He was Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II from 2007 to 2017.[5]

The Right Honourable

The Lord Geidt

GCB GCVO OBE QSO PC
Private Secretary to the Sovereign
In office
8 September 2007 – 17 October 2017
MonarchElizabeth II
DeputyEdward Young
Preceded bySir Robin Janvrin
Succeeded bySir Edward Young
Deputy Private Secretary to the Sovereign
In office
2005–2007
MonarchElizabeth II
SecretarySir Robin Janvrin
Preceded byMary Francis
Succeeded byEdward Young
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
3 November 2017
Life peerage
Personal details
Born (1961-08-17) 17 August 1961
Marylebone, London, UK
NationalityBritish
Spouse(s)
Emma Neill
(
m. 1996)
Children2
Alma materKing's College London
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Magdalen College, Oxford

Early life and education

Born in Marylebone, son of magistrates' court chief clerk Mervyn Bernard Geidt (1926–1991) and Diana Cecil (née MacKenzie),[6][7][8] Geidt attended the Dragon School, Oxford, Glenalmond College, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He graduated in War Studies from King's College London, and in International Relations from Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Geidt also spent periods at Bristol, Harvard and Oxford universities.[9] He is a Fellow of King's College London (FKC), an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and an Honorary Bencher of Middle Temple.[10][11][12]

Career

An Army Scholar, Geidt enlisted in the Scots Guards and attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was later commissioned in the Intelligence Corps.[9]

In 1987, Geidt joined the staff of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, becoming an Assistant Director.[13] From 1994 he worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in diplomatic posts in Sarajevo, Geneva and Brussels.[9]

In 1991, Geidt and Anthony de Normann sued the journalist John Pilger and Central Television over the documentary Cambodia: The Betrayal in which they were accused of being members of the SAS secretly engaged in the training of the Khmer Rouge. Geidt and de Normann accepted ‘very substantial’ damages and all costs.[14] In a related libel action Ann Clwyd MP, then shadow minister for overseas development, issued a public apology to Geidt and de Normann and agreed to meet all legal costs.[15]

During and after the war in Bosnia (1992–1995), Geidt was deployed to liaise with the Bosnian Serb leadership, including Radovan Karadžić, Momčilo Krajišnik and General Ratko Mladić, all later indicted for war crimes.[16][17][18] He assisted the High Representative, Carl Bildt, in negotiating with Serbian President Slobodan Milošević for the removal of Karadžić from the Presidency of the Bosnian Serb ‘Republic’ in 1996.[19]

Geidt was recruited to the Royal Household in 2002 as Assistant Private Secretary to the Queen. He was promoted to Deputy Private Secretary in 2005 before serving for a decade as the Queen's Private Secretary (2007–2017).

During his appointment as Private Secretary, Geidt was also Keeper of the Royal Archives and a Trustee of both the Royal Collection and the Queen's Silver Jubilee Trust (later the Queen's Trust). He remains a Trustee of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and is also Chairman of the Queen's Commonwealth Trust. [20][21][22][23]

As Private Secretary, Geidt had been a member of the so-called 'golden triangle' of senior British officials – the others being the Cabinet Secretary and the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister – with key responsibilities in the event of a 'hung parliament' in the United Kingdom, as happened in 2010.[24]

After ten years as Private Secretary, Geidt stepped down in October 2017.[25] He was subsequently created Baron Geidt, of Crobeg in the County of Ross and Cromarty, and sits as a Crossbench peer in the House of Lords.[26] In early March 2019 he was appointed a Permanent Lord-in-waiting.[27]

Geidt is the Honorary Regimental Colonel of the London Scottish Regiment, having succeeded George, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen in 2016.

Family

In 1996, Geidt married Emma Charlotte Angela Neill, younger daughter of Patrick Neill, Baron Neill of Bladen.[28] The couple have two daughters. Geidt's father was the first cousin of actor Jeremy Geidt.[29][30]

Honours and awards

Geidt was appointed a Privy Counsellor (PC) in 2007.[31]

Life peer as Baron Geidt3 November 2017[26]
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB)2018 New Year Honours
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB)2014 New Year Honours
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)5 October 2017[32][33]
Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO)2011 Birthday Honours
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO)2007[34]
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)1997 Birthday Honours (Diplomatic Service and Overseas List) ‘for services to British interests in Bosnia’.[35]
Companion of the Queen's Service Order (QSO)2018 New Year Honours (New Zealand)
Gulf Medalwith one clasp
United Nations Medal (United Nations)United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC)
United Nations Medal (United Nations)United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR)
European Community Monitor Mission Medal (European Union)'for service in the former Yugoslavia'
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal2012
Grand Officier, Légion d'honneur (France)2014[36]
Officier, Légion d'honneur (France)2004
gollark: I mean, if it was Turing-complete it could compute all the pixels it'd need to display to run Crysis given input fed in somehow, but not actually display them.
gollark: CC can't solve the halting problem, I think that's an example.
gollark: Oh. Right. That's quite a lot then.
gollark: Maybe if computers get really fast in a few decades someone will actually try and do that.
gollark: Neat!

References
  1. "www.dodspeople.com". Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  2. "Life peerages: 12 October 2017". gov.uk. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  3. "King's welcomes Sir Christopher Geidt as new King's Chairman – King's Alumni Community". Alumni.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  4. "King's College London Charter and Statutes" (PDF). Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 2003, vol. 1, p. 1060.
  7. The Law List, Stevens & Sons, 1974, p. 72.
  8. "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  9. "Who's Who". Ukwhoswho.com. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  10. Posted on 20/07/2011 (20 July 2011). "King's College London – Graduations and fellowships". Kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  11. "William Hague and Sir Christopher Geidt Elected Honorary Fellows". 17 March 2016.
  12. "Masters of the Bench". Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  14. "The Lie is Indeed Breathtaking Mr Pilger, But Who Told It". The Australian. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  15. Reported by The Times on 6 July 1991.
  16. Brendan O'Shea (21 January 2005). The Modern Yugoslav Conflict 1991–1995: Perception, Deception and Dishonesty. p. 155. ISBN 9780415357050. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  17. Carl Bildt, Peace Journey, p. 29.
  18. "Key Figures of the Cases | International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia". Icty.org. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  19. Carl Bildt, Peace Journey, p. 220.
  20. "Trustees". Royalcollection.org.uk. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  22. "About the trust | The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust". Jubileetribute.org. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  23. "The Queen's Commonwealth Trust". Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  24. Nicholas Watt. "How a hung parliament would put the Queen centre stage | UK news". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  25. "Queen's private secretary Sir Christopher Geidt to step down after a decade".
  26. "No. 62103". The London Gazette. 8 November 2017. p. 20550.
  27. Court Circular, 4 March 2019.
  28. "Marriages." The Times, [London, England], 16 July 1996.
  29. Entry of Birth (30 August 1961) in the Sub-district of All Souls in the Metropolitan Borough of St. Marylebone.
  30. Corpus Christi College Oxford Biographical Register 1880–1974, 1988, p. 230.
  31. "Announcement of Christopher Geidt being sworn of the Privy Council" (Press release). Number 10. 19 December 2007. Archived from the original on 25 July 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
  32. https://www.royal.uk/court-circular?text=&mrf=2&date%5Bmin%5D%5Bdate%5D=05%2F10%2F2016&date%5Bmax%5D%5Bdate%5D=05%2F10%2F2017&id=
  33. "No. 62078". The London Gazette. 11 October 2017. p. 18918.
  34. "No. 58358". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 2007. p. 3.
  35. "No. 54794". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1997. p. 25.
  36. "www.dodspeople.com". Retrieved 16 August 2019.
Court offices
Preceded by
Sir Robin Janvrin		 Private Secretary to the Sovereign
2007–2017		 Succeeded by
Sir Edward Young
Academic offices
Preceded by
The Duke of Wellington		 Chairman of King's College London
2016–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by
The Lord Agnew of Oulton		 Gentlemen
Baron Geidt 		Followed by
The Lord Hogan-Howe
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