Harry Ronald Neil Primrose, Lord Dalmeny (born 20 November 1967), known as Harry Dalmeny, is a British aristocrat and the Chairman of

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

in the United Kingdom. A member of the British aristocracy, he is the heir to ten noble titles, including the earldoms of Rosebery and Midlothian, to the Primrose family estate Dalmeny House, and to the chiefship of Clan Primrose. Dalmeny is a Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Midlothian and is a member of the

Royal Company of Archers The Royal Company of Archers, The King's Bodyguard for Scotland is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland—a role it has performed since 1822 during the reign of King George IV when the company provided a per ...

Early life and background

Harry Primrose was born in 1967, and is the son and heir of

Neil Primrose, 7th Earl of Rosebery Neil Archibald Primrose, 7th Earl of Rosebery, 3rd Earl of Midlothian (born 11 February 1929), styled Lord Primrose between 1931 and 1974, is a Scottish nobleman. He was a member of the House of Lords from 1974 to 1999. His son and heir is Harry ...

. He is a great-grandson of Prime Minister

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death o ...

, and Hannah de Rothschild, the richest woman in Britain. The earls of Rosebery own Dalmeny House and also owned Mentmore Towers until 1977. He was educated at the Dragon School, Oxford, and

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

. He then studied

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

Career

Lord Dalmeny joined Sotheby's in 1990 to work in the Country House sale department. In 2000, he became Director of Sotheby's and from 2003 to 2007 was Chairman of Sotheby's Olympia. He also took on responsibility for the single-owner sales department in 2006 and became Deputy chairman, Sotheby's UK in 2007. He became Chairman of Sotheby's in 2017. As Sotheby's director of country house sales in the UK, Lord Dalmeny has been behind the rostrum and on top of the gavel for some of the most high-profile auctions in Europe, including the Duke of Devonshire's sale at Chatsworth House and the 2004 record sale at

Hopetoun House Hopetoun House is a country house near South Queensferry owned by the Hopetoun House Preservation Trust, a charity established in 1974 to preserve the house and grounds as a national monument, to protect and improve their amenities, and to pr ...

of Jack Vettriano's painting ''

The Singing Butler ''The Singing Butler'' is an oil-on-canvas painting made by Scottish artist Jack Vettriano in 1992. It sold at auction in 2004 for £744,500 which was the record at the time for any Scottish painting, and for any painting ever sold in Scotland ...

'' for £744,800. In 2013, Lord Dalmeny rode in the Queen's carriage at Royal Ascot. In 2014, the Primrose family sold the painting ''Rome, From Mount Aventine'' by J. M. W. Turner for £30.3m to fund restoration work on Dalmeny House. The painting, regarded as one of Turner's finest, had been bought by the future Prime Minister Archibald Primrose in 1878. In 2019, Lord Dalmeny presided over the auction of

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. Durin ...

's 1890 painting ''Meules'' for 110.7 million US dollars at Sotheby's New York, a record for an impressionist work.

Personal life

In 1994, Lord Dalmeny married Caroline Daglish, a former Conservative Party researcher working for Robert Jones MP and Lord Strathclyde. She is a Patroness of the

Royal Caledonian Ball The Royal Caledonian Ball is a ball held annually in London for the benefit of Scottish charities. With few exceptions, the Royal Caledonian Ball has been held annually since 1849, and is the oldest charity ball in the world. History The ball ...

. They live between London and Scotland, where he has a house and farm in the Moffat Hills. They have five children: two sons named Caspian and Ptolemy, and three daughters; Marina, Delphi, and Celeste, all born 2002–2005. The Dalmenys were reported to be divorcing in 2014. As of 2018, he was in a relationship with Norwegian shipping heiress Pontine Paus. In June 2021, Lord Dalmeny announced his engagement to art advisor Harriet Clapham. They married in 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalmeny, Harry 1967 births Living people People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British people of German-Jewish descent British auctioneers British courtesy barons and lords of Parliament

Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...