Sir Brian McGrath
Vintner who became the Duke of Edinburgh’s long-serving and devoted private secretary
SIR BRIAN MCGRATH, who has died aged 90, was a vintner turned courtier, and an integral part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s working and social life for the last 34 years; he became his private secretary in 1982 and, though he officially retired in 1992, continued to serve him in numerous capacities, retaining an office at Buckingham Palace until the end.
McGrath was selected to become the Duke’s assistant private secretary in July 1982 by his private secretary Lord Rupert Nevill, who promptly died, at which point McGrath was promoted to the top job. By coincidence, his father had been a friend of Prince Andrew of Greece, Prince Philip’s father, though that connection was not known until later.
McGrath used to say that he was the only Irish wine merchant the Duke could find, but as Tim Heald pointed out in his biography The
Duke: Portrait of Prince Philip (1991), he was more likely chosen because of “his no-nonsense approach, reluctance to be daunted by outside pressures and a familiarity with business and business leaders”. McGrath made it a condition of his appointment that he could have his black Labrador in his office.
McGrath not only organised Prince Philip’s entire official programme but took personal responsibility for dealing with the Duke’s many German relations spread across the globe. In particular he looked after Prince Philip’s sister, Princess Sophia, and her husband, Prince George of Hanover, when they came to Britain, arranging every aspect of their stay. This became especially onerous as Prince George became older and tended to leave his bath overflowing or forget items from his personal luggage when he moved from Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace.
Prince Philip was generous to his many relations, assisting in their education, and on more than one occasion it fell to McGrath to rescue one of the younger members of the family when they got into scrapes in far-off lands. “I’m just a nanny really,” he used to say.
He loved working for the Duke, to whom he was a loyal and constant friend. He enjoyed his wine, but Prince Philip does not drink wine, owing to mild arthritis in his wrists. It was not unusual to see McGrath mix Prince Philip’s one pre-dinner dry martini, not hesitating to stir it with his finger if the proper implements were not to hand. He would then take a sip from the glass to test its strength before pressing it into the Duke’s hand.
He also dealt with a number of authors and journalists, to whom he was a robust support unless he felt the need for caution. Tim Heald, for example, was told there was a “6 to 4 chance” that Prince Philip would see him when he was working on his biography. Heald passed muster, and McGrath steered him around, took him on engagements with the Duke, and arranged for lunches with the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. Hugo Vickers described McGrath as “the godfather” of his authorised biography of the Duke’s mother, Princess Andrew of Greece. “Your job is to get a publisher and write the book,” McGrath told him. “My job is to open doors for you.”
When the books were complete, McGrath took on the laborious task of discussing the text, warning the authors of the Duke’s habit of writing “rot” or “rubbish” in the margin. McGrath was ever willing to concede a point if evidence was produced to justify it: “You win that point. On to the next.”
He often accompanied Prince Philip in Britannia. One night, after a convivial evening, he forgot that others were on board, and that in consequence the cabins had been reallocated. He strode into his normal single cabin, and past the bathroom, whereupon a voice inquired: “Hello Brian, how can I help you?” It was the Princess Royal.
Brian Henry McGrath was born on October 27 1925 into an Irish Catholic family of distinction. His father, William, was in the timber business. His mother, Hermione, had inherited Kirklington Hall, Nottinghamshire, from her first husband, who had died in 1915 from injuries sustained in the hunting field. A year before marrying Brian’s father in 1921, she sold it and bought Barnwell Castle (later Manor), Northamptonshire, which would subsequently be sold to the Duke of Gloucester.
Young Brian was educated at Eton and served as a Lieutenant in the Irish Guards in the Second World War. An important figure in his life was his uncle, Commander Redmond McGrath, RNVR, who had been involved in a sensational divorce case in 1920, when he was sued for adultery with Gladys (Gladdy), the vivacious wife of Lt-Col Andrew de Portal Kingsmill, Grenadier Guards. They then married and were prominent figures in the social world in London, Gladdy being painted by Ambrose McEvoy, and sketched by Sargent (before being killed when a bomb hit their house in 1940).
Commander McGrath became chairman of Taylor Walker, the Victoria Wine Company, Cannon Brewery, and Slough Estates, and after being invalided out of the Guards in 1946, Brian followed him into the wine business, joining Taylor Walker in the City of London. He worked with Cannon Brewery until 1948, and then the Victoria Wine Company, Taylor Walker’s retail chain, becoming a Master of Wine in 1956 and serving as chairman from 1960 to 1982.
McGrath’s style and discipline were well suited to the business world and within 30 years the chain had nearly 1,000 branches in Britain. Among other things he negotiated a deal with the Dutch company, Warnink, which led to advocaat becoming the biggest selling liqueur in Britain for many years; and he handled a chain of mergers and acquisitions. He became a director of Grants of St James’s in 1960, serving as their chairman from 1975 to 1982. He was a director of Allied Breweries (later Allied-Lyons) from 1970 to 1982. When he moved to the Palace in 1982, he became chairman of Allied-Lyons’s pension fund, and ran it for 10 years.
In 1992 McGrath was succeeded as private secretary by Brigadier Miles Hunt-Davis. Meanwhile, from 1984 until 2000, he was also treasurer, and from 1996 an Extra Equerry. In the 1990s it was as if Prince Philip had two private secretaries, an arrangement which could have been difficult except that McGrath and Hunt-Davis worked so well together, even though McGrath was a somewhat difficult man to contain in a small space.
He once entered Hunt-Davis’s office to show a visitor some drawings hanging there. Feeling the need to take them from the wall, he climbed on to a filing cabinet, whereupon there was a sound of splintering wood. As McGrath left the office, Hunt-Davis could be seen studying the wreckage.
McGrath continued to serve Prince Philip until the end and was sometimes on hand to accompany the Queen to dinner parties. As well as wine, he enjoyed golf, tennis, shooting and gardening. He was a welcome figure at many a bridge table and a memorably competitive backgammon player. He was an excellent mimic and captured the nuances of some of those he dealt with to perfection.
McGrath was advanced from CVO in 1988 to KCVO in 1993 and finally a rare GCVO in the Duke’s Household in 2001. He remained in good health until the end, walking in the procession of Knights and Dames Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in his 90th year, and frequently representing the Duke of Edinburgh at memorial services. He was deeply touched when the Queen and Prince Philip appeared as surprise guests at his 90th birthday party at the Goring Hotel.
In 1959 he married Elizabeth Bruce, the daughter of General Philip Gregson-Ellis, with whom he had twin sons. She died in 1977 and he is survived by his sons and by a step-daughter. Sir Brian McGrath, born October 27 1925, died June 4 2016