David Vines White (born 27 October 1961), a member of the Royal Household, has since 2021 served as

Garter Principal King of Arms The Garter Principal King of Arms (also Garter King of Arms or simply Garter) is the senior King of Arms, and the senior Officer of Arms of the College of Arms, the heraldic authority with jurisdiction over England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Th ...

. The senior

herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen to ...

and

genealogist Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...

at the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sovere ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, as Garter King of Arms, White is responsible for the

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system (family, tribe, formal or informal organization, a territory or across territories). It is done by the govern ...

of the law of arms in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

, the succession of peerage titles, and oversight of royal ceremonial duties. Timothy Duke & David White 2022

Life

Born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, the younger son of Sheila (''née'' Chatterton) and Peter Vines White (died 1999 at Shilton, Oxfordshire), he was educated at

Marlborough College ( 1 Corinthians 3:6: God gives the increase) , established = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = Nicholas Holtam , head_label = Master , head = Louise ...

, before going up to

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

, graduating as MA. As an undergraduate he was elected President of the Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society. He then pursued postgraduate studies in the

History of Art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic visu ...

at the

Courtauld Institute The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

, receiving a further MA degree from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

. White served as a research assistant to Theobald Mathew, Windsor Herald and contributor to '' Burke's Peerage & Baronetage''. In 1995, he was appointed Rouge Croix Pursuivant, following in the tradition of eminent genealogists such as

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Henry Farnham Burke Sir Henry Farnham Burke, (1859–1930) was a long-serving Anglo-Irish officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Biography A son of Sir Bernard Burke (who was Ulster King of Arms from 1853 until his death in 1892), Henry Burke was app ...

and

Sir Anthony Wagner Sir Anthony Richard Wagner (6 September 1908 – 5 May 1995) was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He served as Garter Principal King of Arms before retiring to the post of Clarenceux King of Arms. He was one of ...

. In 2004, he was advanced Somerset Herald, and from 2014 to 2021 also served as Registrar of the

. On 1 July 2021, White was promoted

, succeeding Sir Thomas Woodcock upon his retirement. On 1 August 2021, White became Inspector of Regimental Colours within the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

. A member of the Council of The Heraldry Society of London (Chairman 2006–09, ''now'' Hon. FHS) and of the

British Record Society The British Record Society is a British learned society that focuses on publishing historic records, or, more specifically, indexes to such records. In recent years, the Society has concentrated on the publication of name indexes to English proba ...

, since 2010, White has served as Honorary Genealogist of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

, and is also a committee member of the Travellers' Club. On 10 September 2022, as Garter King of Arms, White proclaimed the accession of Charles III from the Proclamation Gallery at

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Alt ...

before a global television audience.www.royal.uk
/ref> On 19 September 2022 he proclaimed the styles and titles of

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

over her descending coffin at the end of her committal service in

St George's Chapel, Windsor St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gart ...

Decorations

2012:

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

UK_Queen_EII_Platinum_Jubilee_Medal_ribbon

2022:

Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de platine de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal created to mark the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's access ...

Arms

References

External links

College of Arms website

''Debrett's People of Today''
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, David 1961 births Living people British genealogists People from Glasgow People from Dunbartonshire People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art English officers of arms 21st-century antiquarians Garter Principal Kings of Arms

Life

Decorations

Arms

See also

References

External links