Montague Browne was the son of Andrew Duncan Montague Browne, a British army colonel, by his marriage to Violet Evelyn Downes. He was educated in Switzerland, and then at Stowe School where he refused to join the OTC until World War II broke out in September 1939.
After returning to Magdalen College, Oxford, for a year, Montague Browne entered the Foreign Office in 1946. His first post was as private secretary to the then Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Orme “Moley” Sargent. After a period as the Foreign Office resident clerk, he was assigned to the Western Union Secretariat, which led the UK drafting of the North Atlantic Treaty. In November 1949 he was posted to the British Embassy in Paris, France, in part due to his good French language skills which were developed during his schooling in Switzerland. Montague Browne was second secretary in the Chancery, responsible for monitoring North Africa, covering Egypt to Tangier. With the French sceptical of Anglo-American intentions in North Africa, and French internal politics dominated at the time with the rise in electoral power of the French Communist Party, Montague Browne was chosen by the then British Ambassador to France, Sir Oliver Harvey, to do the internal political reporting of French concerns.
Churchill's private secretary
In September 1952, Montague Browne was chosen to be Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. Till 1955 the role was undertaken jointly with Jock Colville. When Churchill retired in 1955, Montague Browne briefly returned to the Foreign Office but in the same year was seconded to continue as Churchill's private secretary. He stayed with Churchill for the rest of Churchill's life. At first, Churchill was doubtful of him, observing, "I dare say we will get on very well together." As well as his duties as a chief of staff, Montague Browne lunched and dined with Churchill and provided an opponent for his favourite card game, rubicon. He also accompanied him on his trips abroad. After Churchill's fall in Monaco in June 1962 when he broke his hip, Montague Browne arranged and accompanied him on the RAF flight back to London to assure, as Churchill wished, that if he died he would die in England. It was Montague Brown who signed as witness Churchill's death certificate on 24 January 1965 and then liaised between his family and the government regarding Churchill's funeral arrangements.
Post-Churchill
Following Churchill's death Montague Browne was seconded to the Royal Household. He then worked for companies in the City of London, including International Life Insurance and Gerrard and National. He also served as a trustee of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust in the UK. In 1988 he made an extended appearanceon the television discussion programme After Dark alongside among others David Irving, Lord Hailsham and Jack Jones. The topic under discussion was "Winston Churchill: Hero or Madman". It was stated in the programme introduction that this was the first time Montague Browne had "spoken at length about Winston Churchill" . Montague Browne's memoir of his time with Churchill, published originally in 1995, offered further affectionate, if carefully discreet, insights into the statesman's final years.
Personal life
Montague Browne married twice. His first marriage, in 1950, took place in Cheltenham and was to Noel “Nonie” Arnold-Wallinger. He had one daughter from his first marriage. He married secondly, towards the end of 1970 in Wandsworth, Shelagh Macklin, the former wife of racing driver Lance Macklin. While working for Churchill, Montague Browne had an affair with Jane Gillian Portal, one of Churchill's personal secretaries, from 1949 until her marriage to Gavin Welby on 4 April 1955. In 2016, DNA tests showed he was the biological father of her son, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was born on 6 January 1956. Montague Browne died at his home in Bucklebury, West Berkshire, on 1 April 2013. A memorial service was held on 25 June 2013 at St Clement Danes Church on the Strand, London.
Ancestry
Montague Browne and Portal were 9th cousins once removed, both descending from John Erskine, Earl of Mar : Sir Anthony, by his second wife, Lady Mary Stewart, and Jane, by his first wife, Anne Drummond. They were also 11th cousins twice removed, by their shared descent from James V of Scotland: Sir Anthony by his mistress, Euphemia Elphinstone, and Jane by his second wife, Mary of Guise.
Honours
Montague Browne was appointed OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1955 after Churchill's retirement, CBE in 1965 after Churchill's death, and knighted KCMG in 2000 "for long and distinguished public service".
