George Haig, 2nd Earl Haig

George Alexander Eugene Douglas Haig, 2nd Earl Haig OBE RSA DL (born 15 March 1918), styled Viscount Dawick before 1928, succeeded to the Earldom of Haig on the death of his father, Field Marshal the 1st Earl Haig, on 28 January 1928.

Biography

In 1937 he was a Page of Honour to King George VI at his coronation. He was educated at Stowe and at Oxford University, receiving a BA in 1939 and a MA in 1950.

Haig served in the Second World War as an officer in the Royal Scots Greys regiment of the British Army and was for some time a prisoner of war in the infamous Colditz POW Camp. In 1977 he was dubbed a Knight of the Order of St John.

In 2000 he wrote the autobiography, "My Father’s Son". Haig is also a distinguished artist and an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy.

Lord Haig married, on 19 July 1956, Adrienne Therese Morley, daughter of Derrick Morley, and has three children:
#The Lady Adrienne Raina Haig
#The Lady Elizabeth Vivienne Therese Haig
#Alexander Douglas Derrick Haig, Viscount Dawick

After divorce from Lady Adrienne in 1981, he married, on 24 March 1981, Donna Gerolama Lopez y Royo di Taurisano.

His heir is Alexander Douglas Derrick Haig, Viscount Dawick.

The family motto is "Tyde what may", which refers to a 13th century poem by Thomas the Rhymer which predicted that there would always be a Haig in Bemersyde:

Controversy

In September 2006, Earl Haig courted controversy by criticising the Ministry of Defence's decision to posthumously pardon 306 British soldiers executed during World War I for cowardice, desertion or other offences. In reference to the soldiers pardoned, he claimed that "many were rogues, persistent deserters and criminals, or they were guilty of cowardice. They had to be made an example of." [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/05/nhaig05.xml Haig's son attacks pardoning of 306 soldiers shot for cowardice] ] This remark drew criticism from Andrew MacKinlay MP, who had campaigned for the pardon and was reported as "astonished" by Earl Haig's remarks.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.thepeerage.com/p8508.htm#i85077 thePeerage.com]
* [http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/mfwhoswho/individuals/H_mfwwi/earl_of_haig.html Profile]