Hugo Vickers


Hugo Ralph Vickers DL is an English writer and broadcaster.

Early life

The son of Ralph Cecil Vickers, M.C., a stockbroker, senior partner in the firm of Vickers, da Costa, by his marriage in 1950 to Dulcie Metcalf, Vickers was born in Lambeth and educated at Eton and Strasbourg University. He has a younger sister, Imogen. His aunt was the politician Baroness Vickers.

Career

Writer and broadcaster

Vickers has written many royal biographies, including ones of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark—which was approved by her son, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh—and Gladys Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. Over the course of his career, he has regularly participated in royal occasions, being a studio guest for both the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 and Diana's funeral in 1997. Moreover, he commentated on ITN with John Suchet in 1999 for the wedding of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and Sophie Rhys-Jones, for the Queen Mother's centenary celebrations in 2000, and for her funeral two years later. He frequently appeared on CNN's former programme, Larry King Live, and has also appeared on Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and television programmes in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Theatrical work

In September 2001, Vickers wrote a Victorian Evening where he performed alongside Prunella Scales, in the presence of the Earl and Countess of Wessex. A year later in 2002, he compiled an evening of poetry, prose and music—called The Queen Mother's Century; in 2005 he devised a programme of Desert Island Discs, interviewing Robert Hardy who portrayed Sir Winston Churchill; he wrote an anthology of readings and music called The Queen's Childhood in September 2006. Once again, Vickers starred on Desert Island Discs in 2007. In September of that year, he wrote his first one-man show, entitled A Lonely Poet, which starred Charles Duff. This show was later renamed The Immortal Dropout.

Other activities

Vickers was appointed chairman of the Jubilee Walkway Trust in October 2002, which had been founded in 1977 as a lasting memory of the Queen's Silver Jubilee, and later refurbished and updated to commemorate her Golden Jubilee. Being in this role, he welcomed Queen Elizabeth II and her consort, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to the Mall to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Queen's coronation in 2003, and again on 19 November 2007, when the royal couple unveiled the Diamond Wedding panoramic panel in Parliament Square. He is also the Chairman of the Outdoor Trust which puts Walkways into Commonwealth countries.
Vickers is one of the Deputy Lieutenants of James Puxley, Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire.

Personal life

Hugo Vickers lives in London and Wiltshire, and has two sons and a daughter. His elder son, Arthur Vickers, has helped his father with his walkways and his other children Alice and George Vickers have also encouraged Hugo Vickers with his work.

External sources