Martin Charteris, Baron Charteris of Amisfield


Martin Michael Charles Charteris, Baron Charteris of Amisfield, was a British Army officer and courtier of Queen Elizabeth II.

Early life and education

Charteris was the second of two sons born to Hugo Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho and Lady Violet Catherine Manners. His paternal grandparents were Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss and Mary Constance Wyndham, and his maternal grandparents were Henry Manners, 8th Duke of Rutland and Violet Lindsay. His father, a barrister, was killed in action in Egypt in the First World War, and his mother remarried in 1922. His brother, David, succeeded as 12th Earl of Wemyss following the death of their grandfather in 1937.
He was educated at Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was commissioned in the King's Royal Rifle Corps. He fought in the Middle East during the Second World War, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. On his return, he married the Hon. Mary Margesson on 16 December 1944 in Jerusalem and they had three children. He retired from the Army in 1951.

Career

In 1950, he was appointed Private Secretary to Princess Elizabeth, who was then Duchess of Edinburgh and heir presumptive to the British throne. From her accession in 1952 until 1972, he served as her Assistant Private Secretary under Sir Michael Adeane. On Adeane's retirement in 1972, he was promoted to Private Secretary. He held this post until his retirement in 1977 and returned to Eton as its Provost. He was granted the honour of being a Permanent Lord in Waiting.
Charteris was probably most outspoken in an interview he gave to The Spectator in 1995, in which he described: the Duchess of York as "vulgar"; the Prince of Wales as "whiny"; and, the Queen Mother as "a bit of an ostrich", who doesn't look at what she doesn't want to see.

Honours

British honours

In the first two seasons of the Netflix series The Crown, Charteris was portrayed by Harry Hadden-Paton. In seasons 3 and 4, the more mature Charteris was played by Charles Edwards.