- Richard Luce, Baron Luce
Richard Napier Luce, Baron Luce, KG, GCVO, PC,
DL (born14 October 1936 ) wasLord Chamberlain toQueen Elizabeth II from 2000 to 2006, and was previously Governor ofGibraltar and a Conservative PartyMember of Parliament (MP) and government minister.He was educated at Wellington College, and Christ's College,
University of Cambridge . He completedNational Service inCyprus 1955-57. He then briefly joined the OverseasCivil Service , first as a district officer inKenya , 1960-62. He then worked for Gallaher Ltd as a brand manager (1963-65), before becoming marketing manager for theSpirella Company of Great Britain. In 1968-71 he was director of theNational Innovation Centre .From 1972 to 1979, he was
Chairman ofIFA Consultants Ltd, he was also chair ofSelenex Ltd (1973-79), and ofCourtenay Stewart International (1975-79).Luce has two sons, Alexander Luce and
Edward Luce .Political career
Richard Luce was first elected to the House of Commons as
Member of Parliament (MP) for Arundel and Shoreham in aby-election in 1971. When that constituency was abolished in boundary changes for the February 1974 general election, he was returned for the new Shoreham constituency. He retired from the Commons at the 1992 general election.In parliament
Luce was appointed
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Trade and Consumer Affairs in 1972. After the Conservative Party lost the February 1974 general election, he became an Opposition whip.When the Conservatives returned to power at the 1979 general election, he became
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for theForeign and Commonwealth Office . In 1981, he was promoted toMinister of State for Foreign Affairs within the same department. In 1982, he followed his Secretary of State,Lord Carrington , in resigning over the Argentinian invasion of theFalkland Islands . Some blamed Luce for having given the wrong indications to the Argentinians, leading them to believe that the UK would not respond to the invasion. However he returned to office in 1983, again as a Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In 1985, he was moved to thePrivy Council Office asMinister for the Arts , which was his last ministerial office. He resigned in 1990.He had been knighted in 1991, and was made a Privy Counsellor in 1986.
After the Commons
Sir Richard Luce was
Vice-Chancellor of theUniversity of Buckingham between 1992-96. In 1997, he was appointedGovernor of Gibraltar , an office he held until 2000, when he was created aLife Peer as Baron Luce, of Adur in the County ofWest Sussex , GCVO and becameLord Chamberlain to the Queen, the senior official of theRoyal Household of the Sovereign of theUnited Kingdom .He was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Garter on 22 April, 2008.
Lord Luce relinquished the post of Lord Chamberlain on 11 October 2006. He was succeeded by
William Peel, 3rd Earl Peel .In popular culture
Luce was portrayed by
Jonathan Coy in the 2002BBC production ofIan Curteis 's controversial "The Falklands Play ".###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title =Member of Parliament for Arundel and Shoreham
years = 1971–1974
before =Henry Briton Kerby
after = "(constituency abolished)"succession box
title =Member of Parliament for Shoreham
years = 1974–1992
before = "(new constituency)"
after =Michael Stephen
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