Lieutenant-colonel Sir Malcolm Ross
Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain’s Office who played a key role after the death of Princess Diana
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL SIR MALCOLM ROSS, who has died on his 76th birthday, was Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain’s Office at the time of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales; he later served as Master of the Household of the Prince of Wales, Lord Lieutenant of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright (Dumfries and Galloway Region) and Lord Prior of the Order of St John of Jerusalem.
Numerous important royal occasions occurred under his watch, but the most challenging was the hastily arranged funeral of the Princess, following her death in Paris in August 1997. Ross was present at RAF Northolt when her body was brought back into the country.
On the way into London, he observed that, apart from the one lane in which the cortege was travelling, the traffic was completely stationary in both directions. He realised immediately that the plans would have to be upgraded significantly. Although a gun carriage may not have seemed appropriate for the Princess, he organised one, as this gave the crowds a better chance of seeing the route.
He greatly extended the length of the procession so that it began at Kensington Palace, to be joined by the young princes and their family at St James’s Palace. It was greatly to Ross’s credit that he combined the solemn and military aspects with an openness that allowed the crowds who flocked to London to see the procession.
As he told the press the day before: “In putting together this funeral plan we have not followed precedent. We have broken with convention for this unique day for a unique person.”
Walter Hugh Malcolm Ross was born on 27 October 1943, the son of Colonel Walter John Macdonald Ross and his wife, Josephine, née Cross. His younger brother, Sir Robert Ross, was Secretary and Keeper of the Records, Duchy of Cornwall, from 1997 to 2013.
Malcolm was educated at Eton and Sandhurst, after which he served in the Scots Guards from 1964 to 1987, during which time he was Mentioned in Despatches. He was adjutant at Sandhurst from 1977 to 1979, and retired in the rank of Lt-colonel in 1982. He then joined the Royal Household as Assistant Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain’s Office and Management Auditor.
In 1989 he gave up the latter appointment and was Secretary of the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood for a year until 1990. He succeeded Anthony Mather as Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain’s Office in 1991 and served as such until 2005.
He oversaw the Queen Mother’s funeral in 2002, the celebrations for the Golden Jubilee in the same year – causing astonishment among staff when he ordered the cobbles outside Westminster Abbey to be gone over with a vacuum cleaner – and many other royal events, such as the funeral and memorial service for Princess Margaret.
When he took leave of the Queen in 2005 he told her that he was going to work for the Prince of Wales, responding to a direct late-night call from the Prince himself to say: “I need you.”
According to the author Tom Bower, the Queen’s response was: “You must be quite mad. Work for Charles? Well …”
Her words were borne out, Ross recalled: “I had three calls from the Queen outside working hours in 18 years. I had six to eight of them from the Prince of Wales on my first weekend … I was called names I hadn’t heard since my early days in the Army.”
Relations between the Royal Households at Buckingham Palace and Clarence House had not been felicitous. Ross took up his position in 2006 and hoped to forge a good relationship with the then Private Secretary, Michael Peat (at Clarence House from 2002 to 2011), but this was not to be, and a mere two years later, possibly to his relief, he was abruptly dismissed by Peat.
Concurrent with that, from 2006 he served as Lord Lieutenant of Stewartry of Kirkcudbright (Dumfries and Galloway Region), in Scotland, having been a Deputy Lieutenant since 2003. He served until he was 75.
He had many other appointments: he was made OBE in 1988, CVO in 1994, knighted as KCVO in 1999, and advanced to GCVO in 2005. He was an Extra Equerry to the Queen from 1988 and a member of the Royal Company of Archers from 1981.
He was the Prior of Scotland, and subsequently Lord Prior, of The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (which runs, among other health organisations, St John Ambulance). He was also non-executive chairman of the international security and defence company, Westminster Group, from 2007 to 2017.
In 1969 he married Susie Gow, daughter of General Sir Michael Gow; she survives him along with their two daughters and a son.