Nicholas Eden, 2nd Earl of Avon,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

TD DL (3 October 1930 – 17 August 1985), styled Viscount Eden between 1961 and 1977, was a British Army officer and, later, a Conservative politician. He was the younger son of Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden and his first wife,

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(''née'' Beckett).

Career

Eden was educated at Ludgrove School and Eton College. Called up for National Service, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

, his father's former regiment, on 20 May 1950. He transferred to a Territorial Army commission with effect from 6 August 1953, in the same rank (seniority from 20 May 1950), and was promoted to acting lieutenant from the same date (seniority from 17 January 1952). He served as ADC to the Governor General of Canada from 1952 to 1953. He was promoted to acting captain on 1 March 1956, to the substantive rank on 3 October 1957 (seniority from 1 March 1956), to acting major on 1 November 1959 and to substantive major on 3 October 1964 (seniority from 1 November 1959. He was awarded the Territorial Decoration (TD) in 1965 and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the

1970 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1970 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

for his military service. Regimentally within the Territorial Army he served from 1953 with Queen Victoria's Rifles and from 1961 to 1970 its successor the Queen's Royal Rifles. He was appointed an ADC (TAVR) to the Queen in 1978. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the

Greater London county Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australian ...

in 1973 and Vice Chairman of the Greater London TAVR Association. Eden succeeded to the earldom on the death of his father in 1977, his elder brother

Pilot Officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

Simon Gascoigne Eden having been killed in action in June 1945, while serving as a navigator with the RAF in Burma.

Government service

Having risen to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Green Jackets, Lord Avon served under Margaret Thatcher as British Parliamentary delegate to the North Atlantic Assembly from 1979, a

Lord-in-waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without ...

from 1980 to 1983, as Under-Secretary of State for Energy from 1983 to 1984 and as Under-Secretary of State for the Environment from 1984 until his resignation because of ill health in March 1985, shortly before his death.

Personal life

Widely known to have been homosexual, Lord Avon was unmarried and died from complications related to

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

at the age of 54. The cause of death on the death certificate was stated as meningoencephalitis or "inflammation of the brain." Upon his death, his titles became extinct. At the time of his death, '' The News of the World'' identified a man "listed as authorizing cremation of Avon’s body as an antiques dealer who lived with Avon in

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that contains a street and public park of the same name. It has no official boundaries but is roughly bounded by Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road ...

." The character of Peter Morton in the 1992 film '' Peter's Friends'' is said to have been partly inspired by Lord Avon.

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Avon, Nicholas Eden, 2nd Earl Of 1930 births 1985 deaths King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Queen Victoria's Rifles officers People educated at Eton College Politicians from London Officers of the Order of the British Empire Children of prime ministers of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting Earls of Avon LGBT peers Gay politicians LGBT politicians from England AIDS-related deaths in England LGBT military personnel 20th-century LGBT people People educated at Ludgrove School Deputy Lieutenants of Greater London