The Royal Households of the United Kingdom consist of royal officials and the supporting staff of the British royal family, as well as the Royal Household which supports the Sovereign. Each member of the Royal Family who undertakes public duties has their own separate household.

When Elizabeth II was still a Princess she married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on 20 November 1947. After that marriage they shared the Household of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.

When she succeeded her father George VI as sovereign of the United Kingdom, she appointed a new household, known as the Household of the Sovereign 1952–2022.

The Duke of Edinburgh then received a separate household upon his wife's accession, the Household of the Duke of Edinburgh until his death in 2021.

With the passing of the Queen on 8 September 2022 the Household of the Sovereign passed to her son, King Charles III.

Great officers of the Household

Lord Chamberlain

The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the highest-ranking official of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, overseeing the departments that 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.

Name Began Ended Notes George Villiers, 6th Earl of Clarendon 5 August 1952 1952 His tenure carried over from the reign of King George VI Roger Lumley, 11th Earl of Scarbrough 1952 1963 Cameron Cobbold, 1st Baron Cobbold 29 January 1963 30 November 1971 Charles Maclean, Baron Maclean 1 December 1971 30 November 1984 David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie 1 December 1984 31 December 1997 Thomas Stonor, 7th Baron Camoys 1 January 1998 31 May 2000 Richard Luce, Baron Luce 1 October 2000 15 October 2006 William Peel, 3rd Earl Peel 16 October 2006 31 March 2021 Appointment of Lord Chamberlain at the Royal Household official website, 2006 Andrew Parker, Baron Parker of Minsmere 1 April 2021 8 September 2022 His tenure carried over into the reign of King Charles III

Vice Chamberlain

The Vice-Chamberlain of the Household is usually a junior government whip in the British House of Commons and is the Deputy to the Lord Chamberlain. The Vice Chamberlain's main duties are to compile a daily private report for the Sovereign on the proceedings in the House of Commons and to transmit addresses from the Commons to the Sovereign and vice versa.

Name Entered office Left office Notes Reference Henry Studholme 5 August 1952; tenure began 7 November 1951 1956 He began his tenure under King George VI Richard Thompson 1956 1957 Peter Legh 1957 1959 Became Treasurer of the Household; succeeded as The Lord Newton in 1960 Edward Wakefield 1959 1960 Became Treasurer of the Household Richard Brooman-White 1960 1960 Graeme Finlay 1960 1964 William Whitlock 1964 1966 Jack McCann 1966 1967 Charles Morris 1967 1969 Became Treasurer of the Household Alan Fitch 1969 1970 Jasper More 1970 1971 Bernard Weatherill 1971 1972 Became Comptroller of the Household; created The Lord Weatherill in 1992 Walter Clegg 1972 1973 Became Comptroller of the Household Paul Hawkins 1973 1974 Don Concannon 1974 1974 James Hamilton 1974 1978 Became Comptroller of the Household Donald Coleman 1978 1979 Anthony Berry 1979 1981 Became Comptroller of the Household Carol Mather 1981 1983 Became Comptroller of the Household Robert Boscawen 1983 1986 Became Comptroller of the Household Tristan Garel-Jones 1986 1988 Became Comptroller of the Household; created The Lord Garel-Jones in 1997 Michael Neubert 1988 1988 Tony Durant 1988 1990 David Lightbown 1990 1990 Became Comptroller of the Household John Mark Taylor 1990 1992 Sydney Chapman 1992 1995 Timothy Kirkhope 1995 1996 Andrew MacKay 1996 1996 Derek Conway 1996 1997 Janet Anderson 1997 1998 Graham Allen 1998 2001 Gerry Sutcliffe 2001 2003 Jim Fitzpatrick 2003 2005 John Heppell 2005 2007 Liz Blackman 2007 2008 Claire Ward 2008 2009 Helen Jones 2009 2010 Mark Francois 2010 2012 Greg Knight 2012 2013 Previously Treasurer of the Household 1993-96 Desmond Swayne 2013 2014 Anne Milton 2014 2015 Kris Hopkins 2015 2016 Julian Smith 2016 2017 Became Treasurer of the Household Chris Heaton-Harris 2017 2018 Became Comptroller of the Household Mark Spencer 2018 2018 Became Comptroller of the Household Andrew Stephenson 2018 2019 Craig Whittaker 2019 2019 Stuart Andrew 2019 2020 Became Treasurer of the Household Marcus Jones 2020 2021 Became Comptroller of the Household James Morris 2021 2022 Michael Tomlinson 2022 2022 Jo Churchill 2022 2022 Her tenure carried over into the reign of King Charles III

Lord Steward

The Lord Steward of the Household manages the Treasurer of the Household and Comptroller of the Household, who rank next to him. The appointee is always a peer, and is the first dignitary of the court.

Name Began Ended Notes Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton 5 August 1952; tenure began 1 June 1940 1964 He began this position in 1940 under King George VI; his tenure carried over into Elizabeth II's reign Gerald Grosvenor, 4th Duke of Westminster 1964 1967 Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham 1967 1972 Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland 1973 1988 Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley 1989 2001 James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn 2001 2009 James Ramsay, 17th Earl of Dalhousie 2009 8 September 2022 His tenure carried over into the reign of King Charles III

Treasurer of the Household

The Treasurer of the Household is usually held by one of the government deputy Chief Whips in the House of Commons. The Treasurer is automatically a member of the privy council.

Portrait NameTerm of office PartyPrime MinisterCedric Drewe5 August 1952, had served as Treasurer of the Household since 26 October 19515 April 1955ConservativeSir Winston ChurchillJohn Stradling Thomas6 April 19559 January 1957Unionist Party (Scotland)Sir Anthony Eden Hendrie Oakshott 10 January 195716 January 1959ConservativeHarold MacmillanHon. Peter Legh16 January 195921 June 1960ConservativeEdward Wakefield21 June 1960March 1962Conservative Michael Hughes-YoungMarch 1962 16 October 1964ConservativeHarold Macmillan (until 18 October 1963), Alec Douglas-Home (19 October 1963 – 16 October 1964)Sydney Irving4 March 19744 May 1979Labour and Co-operativeHarold Wilson John Silkin11 April 19664 July 1966LabourCharles Grey4 July 196613 October 1969LabourCharles Richard Morris13 October 196918 June 1970LabourHumphrey Atkins18 June 19702 December 1973ConservativeEdward HeathBernard Weatherill2 December 19734 March 1974ConservativeWalter Harrison4 March 19744 May 1979LabourHarold Wilson (4 March 1974 – 5 April 1976), James Callaghan (5 April 1976 – 4 May 1979)John Stradling Thomas6 May 197911 February 1983ConservativeMargaret ThatcherAnthony Berry17 February 198311 June 1983ConservativeJohn Cope11 June 198315 June 1987ConservativeDavid Hunt15 June 198725 July 1989ConservativeTristan Garel-Jones25 July 198914 July 1990ConservativeAlastair Goodlad14 July 199015 April 1992ConservativeJohn MajorDavid Heathcoat-Amory15 April 199227 May 1993ConservativeGreg Knight7 June 199323 July 1996ConservativeAndrew MacKay23 July 19962 May 1997ConservativeGeorge Mudie2 May 199727 July 1998LabourTony BlairKeith Bradley27 July 19988 June 2001LabourKeith Hill8 June 200123 June 2003LabourBob Ainsworth13 June 200328 June 2007LabourNick Brown28 June 20073 October 2008LabourGordon BrownTommy McAvoy5 October 200811 May 2010LabourSir John Randall11 May 20103 October 2013ConservativeDavid CameronGreg Hands7 October 201311 May 2015ConservativeAnne Milton11 May 201512 June 2017ConservativeTheresa MayJulian Smith13 June 20172 November 2017ConservativeEsther McVey2 November 20179 January 2018ConservativeChristopher Pincher9 January 201825 July 2019ConservativeAmanda Milling28 July 201913 February 2020ConservativeBoris JohnsonStuart Andrew13 February 20208 February 2022ConservativeChristopher Pincher8 February 202230 June 2022ConservativeKelly Tolhurst1 July 20227 September 2022ConservativeCraig Whittaker8 September 20228 September 2022, His tenure carried over into the reign of King Charles III Conservative Liz Truss

Comptroller of the Household

The Comptroller of the Household is nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. In recent times, a senior government whip has invariably occupied the office. On state occasions the Comptroller, in common with certain other senior officers of the Household, carries a white staff of office, as often seen in portraits.

Name Entered office Left office Notes Roger John Edward Conant 5 August 1952, had served as Comptroller since 1951 1954 Tam Galbraith 1954 1955 Hendrie Oakshott 1955 1957 Gerald Wills 1957 1958 Sir Edward Wakefield, 1st Baronet 1958 16 January 1959 Harwood Harrison 16 January 1959 6 July 1961 Robin Chichester-Clark 6 July 1961 1964 Charles Grey 1964 1966 William Whitlock (politician) 1966 1967 William Howie 1967 1968 Ioan Evans 1968 1970 Walter Elliot 1970 1970 Reginald Eyre 1970 7 April 1972 Bernard Weatherill 7 April 1972 2 December 1973 Walter Clegg 2 December 1973 28 February 1974 Joseph Harper 28 February 1974 24 June 1978 James Hamilton 24 June 1978 7 May 1979 Spencer Le Marchant 7 May 1979 30 September 1981 Anthony Berry 30 September 1981 17 February 1983 Carol Mather 17 February 1983 16 October 1986 Robert Boscawen 16 October 1986 26 July 1988 Tristan Garel-Jones 26 July 1988 25 July 1989 Alastair Goodlad 25 July 1989 14 July 1990 Sir George Young, 6th Baronet 14 July 1990 28 November 1990 David Lightbown 28 November 1990 12 December 1995 Timothy Wood 12 December 1995 2 May 1997 Tommy McAvoy 2 May 1997 5 October 2008 John Spellar 5 October 2008 11 May 2010 Alistair Carmichael 11 May 2010 7 October 2013 Don Foster 7 October 2013 11 May 2015 Gavin Barwell 11 May 2015 17 July 2016 Mel Stride 17 July 2016 2 June 2017 Christopher Pincher 15 June 2017 5 November 2017 Chris Heaton-Harris 9 January 2018 9 July 2018 Mark Spencer 15 July 2018 34 July 2019 Jeremy Quin 28 July 2019 6 December 2019 Mike Freer 16 December 2019 6 September 2021 Marcus Jones 17 September 2021 8 July 2022 Rebecca Harris 8 July 2022 8 September 2022 Her tenure carried over into the reign of King Charles III

Master of the Horse

The Master of the Horse is the third dignitary of the court. It is a primarily ceremonial office, and rarely appears except on state occasions, and especially when the Sovereign is mounted. There are still several pages of honour who are nominally in the master of the horse's department. They are youths aged from twelve to sixteen, selected by the sovereign in person, to attend on him at state ceremonies.

Name Entered office Left office Notes Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort 5 August 1952 1972 He began this position in 1936 under King Edward VIII David Fane, 15th Earl of Westmorland 1978 1991 Savile Crossley, 3rd Baron Somerleyton 1991 1998 Samuel Vestey, 3rd Baron Vestey 1999 2018 Master of the Horse, royal.gov.uk; accessed 29 August 2015. Rupert Ponsonby, 7th Baron de Mauley 1 January 2019 8 September 2022 His tenure carried over into the reign of King Charles III

Private Secretary's Office

Private Secretary to the Sovereign 5 August 1952: Sir Alan Lascelles

Assistant Private Secretaries 5 August 1952: Major Sir Michael Adeane 5 August 1952: Major Edward Ford 5 August 1952: Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable Martin Charteris

Press Secretary 5 August 1952: Commander (S) Richard Colville

Privy Purse and Treasurer's Office

Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to The Queen 5 August 1952: Sir James Ulick Alexander

Deputy Treasurer to The Queen and Secretary of the Privy Purse 5 August 1952: Commander (S) Sir Dudley Colles

Assistant Keeper of the Privy Purse 5 August 1952: Brigadier Charles George Vivian, Baron Tryon

Almonry

High Almoner 5 August 1952: Edward Sydney Woods, Bishop of Lichfield

Sub-Almoner 5 August 1952: The Reverend Maurice Foxell