Robert Lacey (born 3 January 1944) is a British historian and biographer. He is the author of a number of best-selling biographies, including those of

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...

Eileen Ford Eileen ( or ) is an Irish feminine given name anglicised from Eibhlín and may refer to: People Artists * Eileen Agar (1899–1991), British Surrealist painter and photographer *Eileen Fisher (born 1950), clothing retailer and designer * Eilee ...

, Queen Elizabeth II and other royals, as well as several other works of popular history. He is best known for his work as historian to the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

award-winning drama ''

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

''. Lacey was educated at

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (18 ...

, where he studied history.

Early life

Robert grew up in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and won a scholarship to

Bristol Grammar School Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 mixed, independent day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowed by wealthy Bristol merchants Robert and Nicholas Thorn ...

. Lacey is an alumnus of

, where he earned a BA in History in 1967, a diploma of education in 1967, and an MA in 1970. He began his writing career as a journalist on the ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...

'', and later ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

''.

Career

Lacey's 1981 work ''The Kingdom,'' about the

Saudi royal family The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi state (1727–1818), an ...

, and its 2009 follow-up ''Inside the Kingdom'' have now both been cited as standard study texts for the diplomatic community working inside the Kingdom of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

David Brancaccio David A. Brancaccio (; born May 17, 1960) is an American radio and television journalist. He is the host of the public radio business program '' Marketplace Morning Report'' and the PBS newsmagazine ''Now''. Biography Early years Brancaccio wa ...

said: "In Saudi Arabia, Robert Lacey had the kind of access most journalists only dream of." To research and write the book Lacey took his wife and children to live for two and a half years in Jeddah in the late 1970s. Friends he made there included journalist

Jamal Khashoggi Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi (; ar, جمال أحمد خاشقجي, Jamāl ʾAḥmad Ḵāšuqjī, ; 13 October 1958 – 2 October 2018) was a Saudi journalist, dissident, author, columnist for ''Middle East Eye'' and ''The Washington Post'', and a ge ...

. Lacey co-wrote his last three articles before Khashoggi was murdered in 2018. Selwyn College Gatehouse Tower, Cambridge, UK - Diliff

In 2009 Lacey made the controversial documentary ''Rehab for Terrorists?: Can Terrorists be Rehabilitated with Kindness?'' for the ''Now'' show for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

channel and appeared as a commentator on the subject for the channel. Lacey is a royal correspondent, appearing regularly on ABC's '' Good Morning America'' and was in London for the channel covering the

wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on Friday, 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. The groom was second in the line of succession to the British throne. The couple had been in a relationship si ...

. Lacey remains active in

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, giving lectures "around the world". Lacey is the historical consultant to the

series ''

''. The series has been widely criticised in the UK - despite its commercial success - for its historical inaccuracies and artistic inventions; former National Trust chairman and ex-Times editor Simon Jenkins branded it "cowardly...fake history". Robert Lacey is trustee to

Kent Opera Kent Opera was a British opera company active between 1969 and 1989. It was based in Ashford and regular venues included The Orchard Theatre, Dartford; Assembly Halls, Tunbridge Wells; Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury; Kings Theatre, Southsea; Theatre ...

, which provides training and development of professional and amateur

opera singer Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

s and educational and community workshops linked to operas. During a live BBC broadcast covering the arrival of the coffin of the late Queen Elizabeth II in Edinburgh Lacey spoke of his admiration for John Knox whom he erroneously claimed had "cleared the Catholics out of Scotland." Lacey's comments attracted almost 300 complaints and were reported in the national press.

Family

His first marriage to Alexandra Jane "Sandi" Avrach ended in 2004 in a legal separation after 34 years. They had three children: Sasha, Scarlett and Bruno. In August 2012, Lacey married Lady Jane Rayne (b. 11 August 1932), the daughter of The 8th Marquess of Londonderry and widow of property developer

Max Rayne Max Rayne, Baron Rayne (8 February 1918 – 10 October 2003) was a British property developer and philanthropist who supported medical, religious, education and arts charities in England. Early life Rayne came from a Jewish family. His father, Ph ...

. Lady Jane Rayne Lacey is a founding member and director of the Chickenshed Theatre and was President of Trustees until her daughter Natasha took over in 2013.

Works

* ''Robert, Earl of Essex: An Elizabethan Icarus'' (1971) * ''The Life and Times of Henry VIII'' (1972) * ''The Queens of the North Atlantic'' (1973) * ''Sir Walter Ralegh'' (1973) * ''Majesty'' (1977) * ''The Kingdom'' (1981), History of Saudi Arabia to 1979. * ''Princess'' (1982) with Michael Rand * ''Aristocrats'' (1983) * ''Ford'' (1986) * ''God Bless Her!'' (1987) * ''Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life'' (1991) * ''Grace'' (1994) * ''Sotheby's: Bidding for class'' (1998) * ''The Queen Mother's Century'' (1999) with Michael Rand * ''The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium'' (1999, with Danny Danziger) * ''Royal'' (2002) * ''Monarch: Life and Reign of Elizabeth II'' (2002) * ''Great Tales from English History, Volume 1'' (2003) * ''Great Tales from English History, Volume 2'' (2005) * ''Great Tales from English History, Volume 3'' (2006) * ''Inside the Kingdom'' (2009), History of Saudi Arabia from 1979 to date. * ''A Brief Life of the Queen'' (2012) * ''Gulf Charities and Islamic Philanthropy in the Age of Terror and Beyond'' (2014) with Jonathan Benthall) * ''Model Woman: Eileen Ford and the Business of Beauty'' (2015) * ''The Crown: The official book of the hit Netflix series'' (2017) * ''The Crown Volume 2: The official book of the hit Netflix series'' (2019) * ''Battle of Brothers: William, Harry and the Inside Story of a Family in Tumult'' (2020) * ''Battle of Brothers: William, Harry and the Inside Story of a Family in Tumult - Fully Revised and Updated'' (2021)

References

External links

Robert Lacey website

Inside the Kingdom – The Official Website for Robert Lacey's Book

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lacey, Robert English historians English biographers People educated at Bristol Grammar School Living people 1944 births Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge