Friday, May 17, 2024

Proud Parents: Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley

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 The Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley attended the Thanksgiving Service for the Order of the British Empire at St Paul's Cathedral on May 15.  They were invited because their younger son Lord Oliver was King Charles' page of honour, carrying his train.  Lord Oliver, 14, also served as a Page of Honour at the King's Coronation and the State Opening of Parliament.

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David George Philip Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, is the son of George Hugh Cholmondeley, 6th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and Lavina Leslie.  Lord Cholmondeley's paternal grandmother was Sybil Sassoon.  He is a descendant of Great Britain's first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole. 

Lord Cholmondeley was the Lord Great Chamberlain during Queen Elizabeth II's reign, succeeding his father in this position in 1990.  Lord Carington succeeded in this hereditary position when Charles became king.  When William succeeds, the position of Lord Great Chamberlain will return to David, or if he is deceased, to his elder son, Alexander.   In March 2023, King Charles named Lord Cholmondeley as permanent Lord-in-Waiting.

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Lord Oliver follows in his father's footsteps as the Marquess, then Earl of Rocksavage, was a Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth II from 1974-1976.




The engagement between the 7th Marquess of Cholomondely and Sarah Rose Hanbury was announced on June 22, 2009.  They married in a civil ceremony two days later.    The wedding was "very small" and in haste, as the new Marchioness was pregnant.

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 On October 12, 2009, Lady Cholomondely gave birth to twin sons,  Alexander Hugh George and Oliver Timothy George.  Alexander is the heir to his father's peerages and is styled as Earl of Rocksavage. 

When she married,  Rose was a political assistant to Shadow Schools Secretary Michael Gove. She gave up her job because of morning sickness.  

She suffered complications during her first pregnancy, In early October 2009 she was admitted to Queen Charlotte's Hospital although the twins were not due until January.  Her sister, Marina, told the Daily Mail: "Rose is absolutely fine now. It was one of those complications you get with twins. Hopefully, she will be allowed home today or tomorrow. 

"All twins arrive slightly prematurely, and that will be the case for Rose." There are just a few more weeks to go, but we don't know the precise date yet. Actually, as it is twins, Rose has been told she can choose the date herself."

The twins were born by caesarian section three months early, and taken out of the womb at the same time,  Lord and Lady Cholomondely had to choose which son would be the heir.  According to a friend,
"They have decided that the eighth marquess will be the boy who weighed more at birth. There was only eight ounces in it, but they will be a very significant eight ounces.''

 Lady Cholomondeley gave birth to a daughter, Lady Iris Marina Aline in March 2016.

After Lord Cholomondely announced his engagement, to the "beguiling socialite,"  Tim Walker, then the Mandrake columnist for the Daily Telegraph wrote: "No one has had more fun being single than David, but there comes a point when even a man with his energy has to commit himself to one person,'' a friend of Rocksavage tells me. "Rose is delighted that she has succeeded where so many women have failed.''



Sarah Rose Hanbury is 25 years younger than her husband.  She was born on March 15, 1984, at the Westminster Hospital in London, the younger daughter of Timothy Hanbury and Emma Longman.  The Hanbury family is landed gentry.   Rose's maternal grandmother, Lady Elizabeth Lambart, daughter of the 10th Earl of Cavan, was one of Queen Elizabeth II's bridesmaids, and her paternal grandmother, Sara, was the daughter of Sir Henry Ralph Stanley Birkin, 3rd Baronet.

Sir Henry was better known as the racing driver, Tim Birkin.

Rose's older sister, Marina, is the third wife of Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham.

The Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley live with their three children at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, and Cholmondeley Castle, near Malpas, Cheshire.

Lord and Lady Chomondelely move in the same social circles as the Prince and Princess of Wales.  The Marquess has a major role in Charles III's court.   He and his wife often attend royal events.  His wife has never had an affair with the Prince of Wales.  



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