Alexander Ronald George Strutt, 4th Baron Belper (28 April 1912 – 23 December 1999), was a British

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...

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, and equestrian.

Early life and education

On 28 April 1912, Strutt was born to

Algernon Strutt, 3rd Baron Belper Algernon Henry Strutt, 3rd Baron Belper (6 May 1883 – 20 May 1956), was 3rd Baron Belper from 1914 to 1956. He entered the British Army in August 1908 and gained the rank of Lieutenant in the service of the 2nd Life Guards. He succeeded to ...

, and his wife Eva Isabel Mary Bruce. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

, an all-boys public school in London. He underwent officer training at the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

Career

Military service

Having completed his officer training, Strutt was commissioned into the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

on 1 September 1932 as a second lieutenant. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 1 September 1935, to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 1 September 1940, and to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 1 July 1946. Strutt saw active service during the

Second World War 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 ...

, and was wounded on active duty in 1944.

Equestrian career

He rode Crown Prince (owned by his stepfather,

Lord Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of h ...

) to victory in the

National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup The National Hunt Challenge Cup is a National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of abo ...

at Cheltenham in 1934. He was, for some time, racing manager for

Stavros Niarchos Stavros Spyrou Niarchos (, ; 3 July 1909 – 15 April 1996) was a Greek billionaire shipping tycoon. Starting in 1952, he had the world's biggest supertankers built for his fleet. Propelled by both the Suez Crisis and increasing demand for oil, ...

. As an owner his best horse was

Cesarewitch Handicap The Cesarewitch Handicap is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Newmarket over a distance of 2 miles and 2 furlongs (3,621 met ...

victor Persian Lancer. It won in 1966, ridden by Doug Smith. He was Master of the

Quorn Hunt The Quorn Hunt, usually called the Quorn, established in 1696, is one of the world's oldest fox hunting packs and claims to be the United Kingdom's most famous hunt. Its country is mostly in Leicestershire, together with some smaller areas of ...

from 1948 to 1954.

Family

On 15 November 1940, Strutt married Zara Sophie Kathleen Mary Mainwaring. She was the daughter of Sir Harry Mainwaring, 5th Baronet, and Generis Williams-Bulkeley. There was one child from this marriage: * Richard Henry Strutt, 5th Baron Belper (b. 24 October 1941). He and Zara Sophie Kathleen Mary Mainwaring were divorced in 1949. She later married

Peter Cazalet Peter Cazalet may refer to: * Peter Cazalet (Royal Navy officer) (1899 – 1982) * Peter Cazalet (racehorse trainer) (1907 – 1973) {{hndis, Cazalet, Peter ...

, trainer of horses for

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

. Belper lost the sight in one eye in 1957, after being hit by a stray shot from millionaire racehorse trainer Bernard Van Cutsem. In March 2000 it was revealed that Belper was the "Lord Y" in Janie Jones' trial for alledgedly running a call-girl ring. Belper had been a regular client of Jones', and upon his name being discovered in her client book, claimed that Jones had been blackmailing him. Jones was subsequently acquitted of sexual blackmail.Private Eye, Vol.997, 10th March 2000, p8.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belper, Ronald Strutt 1912 births 1999 deaths Coldstream Guards officers English jockeys Masters of foxhounds in England People educated at Harrow School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Army personnel of World War II 4

Ronald Ronald is a masculine given name derived from the Old Norse ''Rögnvaldr'',#H2, Hanks; Hardcastle; Hodges (2006) p. 234; #H1, Hanks; Hodges (2003) § Ronald. or possibly from Old English ''Regenweald''. In some cases ''Ronald'' is an Anglicised ...

Belper Belper () is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about north of Derby on the River Derwent. Along with Belper, the parish includes the village of Milford and the hamlets ...