(left), holding his white staff of office; the Lord Speaker,
Baroness Hayman; and the Speaker of the House of Commons,
John Bercow, showing US President
Barack Obama around Members' Lobby during a tour of the Palace in May 2011. The office was originally held by
Robert Malet, a son of one of the leading companions of
William the Conqueror. In 1133, however,
Henry I declared Malet's estates and titles forfeit, and awarded the office of Lord Great Chamberlain to
Aubrey de Vere, whose son was created
Earl of Oxford. Thereafter, the Earls of Oxford held the title almost continuously until 1526, with a few intermissions due to the forfeiture of some earls for treason. In 1526, however,
John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford died, leaving his aunts as his heirs. The earldom was inherited by a more distant heir-male, his second cousin.
Henry VIII then decreed that the office belonged to
the Crown, and was not transmitted along with the earldom. The King appointed
John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford to the office, but the appointment was deemed for life and was not hereditary. The family's association with the office was interrupted in 1540, when the 15th Earl died and
Thomas Cromwell, the King's chief adviser, was appointed Lord Great Chamberlain. After Cromwell's
attainder and execution later the same year, the office passed through a few more court figures, until 1553, when it was passed back to the de Vere family to
John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford, again as an uninheritable life appointment. Later,
Mary I ruled that the Earls of Oxford were indeed entitled to the office of Lord Great Chamberlain on an hereditary basis. Thus, the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth Earls of Oxford held the position on a hereditary basis until 1626, when
Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford died, again leaving a distant relative as
heir male, but a closer one as a female heir. The
House of Lords eventually ruled that the office belonged to the
heir general,
Robert Bertie, 14th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, who later became
Earl of Lindsey. The office remained vested in the Earls of Lindsey, who later became
Dukes of Ancaster and Kesteven. In 1779, however,
Robert Bertie, 4th Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven died, leaving two sisters as female heirs, and an uncle as an heir male. The uncle became the
5th and last Duke, but the House of Lords ruled that the two sisters were jointly Lord Great Chamberlain and could appoint a Deputy to fulfil the functions of the office. The barony of
Willoughby de Eresby fell into
abeyance between the two sisters, but
George III terminated the abeyance and granted the title to the elder sister,
Priscilla Bertie, 21st Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. The office of Lord Great Chamberlain, however, was divided between Priscilla and her younger sister
Georgiana. Priscilla's share was eventually split between two of her granddaughters, and has been split several more times since then. By contrast, Georgiana's share has been inherited by a single male heir each time; that individual has in each case been the
Marquess of Cholmondeley, a title created for
Georgiana's husband.
20th and 21st centuries (with
Baroness Manningham Buller). In 1902 it was ruled by the House of Lords that the then joint office holders (
Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster,
George Cholmondeley, 4th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and
Charles Wynn-Carington, 1st Earl Carrington, later Marquess of Lincolnshire) had to agree on a deputy to exercise the office, subject to the approval of the Sovereign. Should there be no such agreement, the Sovereign should appoint a deputy until an agreement be reached. As the Cholmondeley share and the Ancaster share (held since 1983 by
Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby) are not further split, each of these holders decides in his or her turn to act as Lord Great Chamberlain or to name a person who will act as Lord Great Chamberlain. The Carrington share was divided at his death among his five daughters and their heirs, and has since been further divided, with 11 people holding shares as of September 2022. At accession of Charles III the turn fell to the Carrington heirs who named their cousin
Rupert Carington, 7th Baron Carrington, to act as Lord Great Chamberlain. Being descended from the Earl's younger brother he himself has no share of the office. On 6 May 2023, the Lord Great Chamberlain presented spurs to King
Charles III as part of
Charles' coronation. The spurs were included among the first English coronation ornaments in 1189 and were used during the coronation of
Richard I. ==Lord Great Chamberlains, 1130–1779==