Major General Sir Christopher John Ghika, (born 28 September 1969) is a retired senior

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer. He was deputy commander of the US-led military coalition against ISIS, the Combined Joined Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, from 2018 to 2019 and

Major-General commanding the Household Division The Major-General commanding the Household Division commands the Household Division of the British Army and is also the General Officer Commanding London District. In British Army parlance, "The Major-General" always refers to the Major-General ...

from 2019 to 2023.

Early life

Ghika is the son of

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Prince John Nicholas Ghika, CBE (1928–2003), an

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG) is one of the Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment (1992), Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infant ...

officer who traced his royal title back to 1658, when the Ghica dynasty (a dynasty of

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

origin) ruled over

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

, later

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

, and finally the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

. Chris Ghika does not use the title "

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

" publicly. He was educated at

Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding and day school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition. It opened in 1803 as a boys' school. It is near the villa ...

Military career

Procession to Lying-in-State of Elizabeth II at Westminster Hall - 46

Ghika was commissioned into the

in 1993, upon completing the commissioning course at the

Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town o ...

. After various field and staff roles, he became commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, in 2010. He was deployed as the head of a battlegroup, as a lieutenant colonel, to

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto language, Pashto/Dari language, Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering ...

, Afghanistan. He later went on to be Deputy Commander of the 1st (US) Infantry Division in 2014, Head of Personnel Capability in the Army Headquarters in September 2015, and Deputy Commander Strategy and Information of Combined Joined Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in 2018. Ghika was appointed

on 15 November 2019. In June 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, he was responsible for the modified

Trooping the Colour Trooping the Colour is a ceremonial event performed every year on Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom, by regiments of Household Division, to celebrate the King's Official Birthday, official birthday of the British sovereign, though t ...

ceremony at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

. He was appointed the commanding officer of the procession to

Westminster Hall Westminster Hall is a medieval great hall which is part of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was erected in 1097 for William II (William Rufus), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The building has had various functio ...

and the subsequent funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. He was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

during an audience with

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

on 28 June 2023; during this audience he relinquished his appointment as Major-General commanding the Household Division and also as GOC London. He formally retired from the army on 30 December 2023. Ghika became Regimental Lieutenant Colonel of the Irish Guards on 10 June 2022.

Later career

After relinquishing his appointment as Major-General commanding the Household Division and retiring from the army after 30 years of service, Ghika became Under Treasurer and Chief Executive at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in July 2023.

References

{{s-end British Army major generals British people of Albanian descent Operation Inherent Resolve British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Romanian nobility Romanian princes Irish Guards officers People educated at Ampleforth College British Army personnel of the Iraq War 20th-century British Army personnel