Christopher Geidt, Baron Geidt
Christopher Edward Wollaston MacKenzie Geidt, Baron Geidt, , is a member of the House of Lords and Chairman of King's College London. He was Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II from 2007 to 2017.
Early life and education
Born in Marylebone, son of magistrates' court chief clerk Mervyn Bernard Geidt and Diana Cecil, Geidt attended the Dragon School, Oxford, Glenalmond College, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He graduated in War Studies from King's College London, and in International Relations from Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Geidt also spent periods at Bristol, Harvard and Oxford universities. He is a Fellow of King's College London, an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and an Honorary Bencher of Middle Temple.Career
An Army Scholar, Geidt enlisted in the Scots Guards and attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was later commissioned in the Intelligence Corps.In 1987, Geidt joined the staff of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, becoming an Assistant Director. From 1994 he worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in diplomatic posts in Sarajevo, Geneva and Brussels.
In 1991, Geidt and Anthony de Normann sued the journalist John Pilger and Central Television over the documentary Cambodia: The Betrayal in which they were accused of being members of the SAS secretly engaged in the training of the Khmer Rouge. Geidt and de Normann accepted ‘very substantial’ damages and all costs. In a related libel action Ann Clwyd MP, then shadow minister for overseas development, issued a public apology to Geidt and de Normann and agreed to meet all legal costs.
During and after the war in Bosnia, Geidt was deployed to liaise with the Bosnian Serb leadership, including Radovan Karadžić, Momčilo Krajišnik and General Ratko Mladić, all later indicted for war crimes. He assisted the High Representative, Carl Bildt, in negotiating with Serbian President Slobodan Milošević for the removal of Karadžić from the Presidency of the Bosnian Serb ‘Republic’ in 1996.
Geidt was recruited to the Royal Household in 2002 as Assistant Private Secretary to the Queen. He was promoted to Deputy Private Secretary in 2005 before serving for a decade as the Queen's Private Secretary.
During his appointment as Private Secretary, Geidt was also Keeper of the Royal Archives and a Trustee of both the Royal Collection and the Queen's Silver Jubilee Trust. He remains a Trustee of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and is also Chairman of the Queen's Commonwealth Trust.
As Private Secretary, Geidt had been a member of the so-called 'golden triangle' of senior British officials – the others being the Cabinet Secretary and the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister – with key responsibilities in the event of a 'hung parliament' in the United Kingdom, as happened in 2010.
After ten years as Private Secretary, Geidt stepped down in October 2017. He was subsequently created Baron Geidt, of Crobeg in the County of Ross and Cromarty, and sits as a Crossbench peer in the House of Lords. In early March 2019 he was appointed a Permanent Lord-in-waiting.
Geidt is the Honorary Regimental Colonel of the London Scottish Regiment, having succeeded George, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen in 2016.
Family
In 1996, Geidt married Emma Charlotte Angela Neill, younger daughter of Patrick Neill, Baron Neill of Bladen. The couple have two daughters. Geidt's father was the first cousin of actor Jeremy Geidt.Honours and awards
Geidt was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 2007.| Life peer as Baron Geidt | 3 November 2017 | |
| Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath | 2018 New Year Honours | |
| Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath | 2014 New Year Honours | |
| Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order | 5 October 2017 | |
| Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order | 2011 Birthday Honours | |
| Commander of the Royal Victorian Order | 2007 | |
| Officer of the Order of the British Empire | 1997 Birthday Honours ‘for services to British interests in Bosnia’. | |
| Companion of the Queen's Service Order | 2018 New Year Honours | |
| Gulf Medal | with one clasp | |
| United Nations Medal | United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia | |
| United Nations Medal | United Nations Protection Force | |
| European Community Monitor Mission Medal | 'for service in the former Yugoslavia' | |
| Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal | 2012 | |
| Grand Officier, Légion d'honneur | 2014 | |
| Officier, Légion d'honneur | 2004 |