NZ honours Queen’s ex-aide
Among those to receive a New Zealand New Year honour is Lord Geidt. He is becoming a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order.
But who is Lord Geidt? He was the man who would, in the case of the Queen’s death, be the first to deal with the news.
Up until September, he was the Queen’s private secretary, and his job was to call the British prime minister and let them know she’d died. Quite a morbid responsibility.
He spent a decade as the Queen’s private secretary, but he was ousted from his position in
2017 in a power struggle between Buckingham Palace and Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, according to
Geidt announced he was leaving his role in July after complaints by the Prince of Wales and Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, it was reported.
However, the palace and the princes have reportedly been in a ‘‘huge row’’ over how best to manage the transition of Prince Charles succeeding his mother as monarch.
Geidt also has not one, but three knighthoods.
His full title is the Right Honourable Sir Christopher Edward Wollaston MacKenzie Geidt, Lord Geidt, GCVO, KCB, OBE.
Here’s what abbreviations stand for:
❚ GCVO – Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. He received that honour in 2017 and in
2011.
❚ KCB – Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, received 2014.
❚ OBE – Officer of the Order of the British Empire, 1997
Geidt was also made Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 2007.
Now, he’s adding Companion of the Queen’s Service Order.
He was born in August 1961, and his career began with military service in the British Army, including operational tours in the Gulf, Cambodia and the former Yugoslavia.
He worked at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies before later joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office where he served in diplomatic posts in Sarajevo, Geneva and Brussels.
He joined the Royal Household in 2002 as assistant private secretary to the Queen, becoming private secretary in 2007.
In his position as private secretary, he was part of a trio known as the ‘‘Golden Triangle’’ of Britain’s most powerful civil servants Why a New Zealand honour? Well, according to information released to media about the New Year honours, he has ‘‘supported successive New Zealand prime ministers in their constitutional relationship with her majesty as Queen of New Zealand, ensuring that advice from New Zealand on New Zealand matters is conveyed directly to our head of state’’.
‘‘He has also supported strengthened relationships between senior members of the royal family and New Zealand,’’ the media release said.
‘‘He has provided significant help on a range of important and complex issues that have arisen in recent years, in particular New Zealand’s work leading the 15 Realm countries that have the Queen as head of state to adopt updated laws about the succession to the throne for each of those countries.’’