Lord Nicholas Charles Gordon-Lennox (31 January 1931 – 11 October 2004), the younger son of the 9th Duke of Richmond and his wife, Elizabeth, was a British

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

, serving as Her Majesty's Ambassador to Spain from 1984 to 1989.

Background and early life

Gordon-Lennox was born the younger son of Frederick Gordon-Lennox, the Earl of March and Kinrara. On his grandfather's death in 1935, his father succeeded as the 9th Duke of Richmond, with Gordon-Lennox becoming 'Lord Nicholas'. He was raised at the family home of Goodwood House before being sent with his elder brother,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He returned to Britain in 1944 to join Eton and later won a scholarship to read history at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

Career

After graduation and

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

with the King's Royal Rifle Corps, he joined HM Foreign Service in 1954 and became Private Secretary to the British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Harold Caccia, in 1957, for which he was awarded the LVO. He transferred to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

in 1961 as Second Secretary, and then First Secretary, at

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. In 1963, he returned to England again to become Private Secretary to Caccia again, in the latter's post as Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, before moving to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

as Head of the Chancery in 1966. After a brief secondment at the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

from 1971 to 1973, he became Head of the News Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and then Head of the North American Department in 1974, before becoming a Counsellor at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1975 and was awarded the CMG in 1978. In 1979 he became Assistant Under-Secretary at the Foreign Commonwealth Office and his final diplomatic post was as British Ambassador to Spain from 1984 to 1989. Gordon-Lennox was then a Governor of the BBC from 1990 and retired in 1998.

Personal life

He married Mary Williamson, daughter of Brigadier Hudleston Noel Hedworth Williamson, on 14 January 1958. cites . They had four children and eleven grandchildren:The Peerage, entry for Lord Sir Nicholas Charles Gordon-Lennox
/ref> *Sarah Caroline Gordon-Lennox (20 January 1960); married Dominic Caldecott in 1988. They have three sons and one daughter. *Henrietta Mary Gordon-Lennox (8 January 1962); married Michael Lindsell in 1992. They have three children, two sons and a daughter. *Lucy Elizabeth Gordon-Lennox (28 December 1965); married Mark Cornell on 7 December 1996. They have four children, two sons and two daughters. *Anthony Charles Gordon-Lennox (26 April 1969 – 7 October 2017). He died on 11 October 2004, aged 73.

Honours

Gordon-Lennox was awarded the Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and ...

in 1986, for his role as Ambassador from the United Kingdom to Spain. He was promoted to KCMG in 1986 and then KCVO in 1988.

Posts and offices

References

Sources

Profile
burkes-peerage.net
Obituary
telegraph.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordonlennox, Lord Nicholas 1931 births 2004 deaths Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic

Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

People educated at Eton College Younger sons of dukes King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Spain