English Nobility. 2nd Baron of Penshurst and Private Secretary to King Edward VIII. He played an important role during the abdication crises. He was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge, before entering the diplomatic service. He served with the Grenadier Guards in World War I, and won the Military Cross, but he received wounds that affected his health for the rest of his life. He became assistant private secretary to King George V in 1920 and held the post until the King's death in 1936. The new monarch, Edward VIII, made him his private secretary, but he was uncomfortable with the new King's informality and lack of interest in official papers. He was an early opponent of the King's relationship with Mrs Simpson, and expressed his concerns to the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin. He also wrote to King Edward, warning him of the hostility of the British press and urging him to encourage Mrs Simpson to leave the country. The King did not ask him to assist in the negotiations surrounding the abdication, but he played an important role in the crises by protecting the reputation of the monarchy and ensuring the smooth succession of George VI. He published an account of the abdication in The Times newspaper in 1958, in which he denied any part in a plot to remove the King. He remained in his post under George VI, and later opposed Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasing Hitler. He may also have influenced the King into accepting Winston Churchill as Prime Minister. Ill health and a difficult relationship with George VI led to his retirement in 1943, shortly after accompanying him on a visit to the troops in North Africa. He succeeded to his father to the peerage in 1944, and in retirement was governor of St Bartholomew's Hospital, London and King's School, Canterbury. He was present at the coronation of Elizabeth II, and died of liver cancer at home in Penshurst, Kent.