Carlton Club members revolt as former royal aide takes charge
CHIEF REPORTER AS THE Crown Equerry, Major Simon Robinson was one of the Queen’s most trusted and favoured aides.
But then in March 2011, Major Robinson quit Buckingham Palace under something of a cloud, having split from his wife amid allegations, strongly denied, of an affair.
Now five years on, feathers appear to have been ruffled in his new post as secretary of the Carlton Club, the 184year-old home to the Conservative Party establishment.
Some members have complained that Major Robinson, who took up the position of secretary in the autumn, is not the right man to run the club.
An anonymous cabal opposed to the appointment has written to the club’s chairman, Tory grandee Lord Strathclyde, in official protest.
In the vitriolic letter, on Carlton Club headed notepaper, the dissenters wrote: “We are calling ourselves The Disgruntled Members of Carlton Club (TDMCC) and hereby would like to anonymously announce that we are not happy with the recent appointment of Major Simon Robinson to be heading this prestigious members’ club.”
It accuses Major Robinson of being of “ill repute”. The letter then lists the concerns with Major Robinson, including his departure from Buckingham Palace and the suitability for his new job given his subsequent roles – and finally calls on Lord Strathclyde to quit as chairman.
“You should consider your position untenable moving forward and resign from this debacle that has been created by you and your colleagues,” says the letter, adding: “Please do not try to defend the indefensible.”
The row has echoes of a blistering confrontation at the Carlton Club’s great rival, the Reform Club. As previously disclosed by members of the Reform are attempting to block its new secretary, a former Navy commander, from taking up the post. The Reform has been forced to hold an extraordinary general meeting tomorrow night where a vote will be taken to try to overturn the appointment of Rod Craig as its secretary.
The controversies suggest a crisis of confidence about the directions clubs take, with some members wanting younger, more modern secretaries – effectively chief executives – running the clubs rather than former military men.
Those who complain about Major Robinson claim concern over his past, including the circumstances in which he left the Royal household. They have even delved into a succession of jobs he has held since stepping down as Crown Equerry, suggesting his previous roles as director of public affairs for a company based in Bermuda, executive of a Chinese equestrian consultancy and latterly as chief executive of a Russianowned private members’ club in Mayfair are not sufficient to take on the role of secretary of the Carlton Club.
Major Robinson also formed his own private company called Major Simon Robinson Limited, which he registered at Companies House in November 2010 but which he wound up less than a year later. A source who is unhappy with Major Robinson’s appointment said: “Simon Robinson was in the Royal household and he got called out for inappropriate behaviour. We are very, very surprised this person has been selected as secretary.
“We are all very upset. There are more than a dozen of us at the club who are unhappy with this, but we don’t want to put our heads above the parapet.”
Lord Lexden, a historian who written the definitive history of has the Carlton Club, said: “Unity is the normal characteristic at the Carlton Club, not factionalism. I am aware of but surprised to hear these rumblings and find them difficult to understand.”
The Carlton Club was founded in 1832 by Tory peers and MPs to co-ordinate the party’s activities. Margaret Thatcher was made an honorary member on becoming leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, even though it would be a further 33 years before women were given full membership.
Major Robinson was unavailable for comment. thought to have previously belonged to a former Labour MP who died in 1965 – after which it may have even been used as a theatrical prop. The box was bought at auction earlier this year by a private collector for £250.
Close examination revealed that it is inscribed with “Chancellor of the Exchequer” and also includes a royal signet with the letters “VR” – short for Victoria Regina.
Christie’s has verified the age and the design of the box with its maker, Barrow, Hepburn and Gayle, and said that the apparent duplicate box “raises the tantalising possibility that this box may have been originally used in tandem with the famed Chancellor’s budget box and was almost certainly commissioned either for Gladstone himself or one of his 19th-century successors”.
One thing which may have been removed from the second box is the lead lining of the original, designed – legend has it – to ensure it would sink if thrown overboard in the event of capture.
It is believed it belonged to Robert Gibson, a Scottish lawyer and Labour MP for Greenock from 1936 to 1941.