Sir William Frederick Payne Heseltine, (born 17 July 1930) is a former

Private Secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in ...

to Queen Elizabeth II. He was in office from 1986 to 1990.

Biography

Heseltine was born at Wyalkatchem, Western Australia, in 1930. He was educated at Richmond Primary School, Christ Church Grammar School,

Claremont, Western Australia Claremont is a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, on the north bank of the Swan River. History Prior to European settlement, the Noongar people used the area as a source of water, for fishing and for catching waterfowl. In 1830, Jo ...

, and the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

, where he received a 1st class BA (Hons) in history. Heseltine joined the Prime Minister's Department (Australia) in 1951, where he remained until 1962. He was Private Secretary to

Sir Robert Menzies ''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 ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

(1955–1959), and Acting Official Secretary to The 1st Viscount De L'Isle, Governor-General, May to August 1962. In 1960–1961, he was temporary Assistant Press Secretary to the Queen. From 1962–1964 he was Assistant Federal Director of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

, and in 1964 was attached to ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'' (

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

). In the same year, he was attached to Princess Marina for her tour of Australia. Heseltine joined the

Press Office Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

of The Royal Household as Assistant Press Secretary to the Queen in 1965–1967. He was Press Secretary 1968–1972. In 1972, Heseltine was moved to the Private Secretary's Office proper, becoming Assistant Private Secretary. In 1977, he was promoted to Deputy Private Secretary and, in April 1986, to Private Secretary to the Sovereign, and Keeper of the Queen's Archives. He retired in October 1990. He was appointed an Extra Equerry while Deputy Private Secretary to the Queen. He has been a company director from 1991, including chairman of NZI Insurance Australia Ltd 1992 (deputy 1991–1992); director of NZI Insurance New Zealand 1996; P&O Australia Ltd 1990–; and West Coast Telecasters Ltd 1991–1996.

Appointments

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

, 1986 ''(PC)'' *

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

, Murdoch University, 1992.

Retirement

On leaving Royal service, Sir William retired to the historic town of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

in his native

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Honours

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heseltine, William 1930 births Living people Companions of the Order of Australia Companions of the Queen's Service Order Australian Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Australian Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Australian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Private Secretaries to the Sovereign Deputy Private Secretaries to the Sovereign Assistant Private Secretaries to the Sovereign Australian monarchists University of Western Australia alumni