Lord Chamberlain

The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main channel of communication between the Sovereign and the House of Lords. The office organises all ceremonial activity such as garden parties, state visits, royal weddings, and the State Opening of Parliament. They also oversee the Royal Mews and Royal Travel, as well as the ceremony around the awarding of honours.
From 1737 to 1968, the Lord Chamberlain had the power to decide which plays would be granted a licence for performance; this meant that he had the capacity to censor theatre at his pleasure.
The Lord Chamberlain is always sworn of the Privy Council, is usually a peer and before 1782 the post was of Cabinet rank. The position was a political one until 1924. The office dates from the Middle Ages when the King's Chamberlain often acted as the King's spokesman in Council and Parliament.
The current Lord Chamberlain is The Lord Parker of Minsmere, who has been in office since 1 April 2021.
==Historic role==
During the early modern period, the Lord Chamberlain was one of the three principal officers of the Royal Household, the others being the Lord Steward and the Master of the Horse. The Lord Chamberlain was responsible for the "chamber" or the household "above stairs": that is, the series of rooms used by the Sovereign to receive increasingly select visitors, terminating in the royal bedchamber (although the bedchamber itself came to operate semi-autonomously under the Groom of the Stool/Stole). His department not only furnished the servants and other personnel (such as physicians and bodyguards, the Yeomen of the Guard and Gentlemen Pensioners) in intimate attendance on the Sovereign but arranged and staffed ceremonies and entertainments for the court. He also had (secular) authority over the Chapel Royal. In 1782, under the terms of the Civil List and Secret Service Money Act (22 Geo. III c.82), the Lord Chamberlain took on direct responsibility for items kept and maintained by the Great Wardrobe and the Jewel House (whereby these formerly semi-independent sub-departments were abolished).
As other responsibilities of government were devolved to ministers, the ordering of the Royal Household was largely left to the personal taste of the Sovereign. To ensure that the chamber reflected the royal tastes, the Lord Chamberlain received commands directly from the sovereign to be transmitted to the heads of subordinate departments.
In 1594, the Lord Chamberlain, Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, founded the Lord Chamberlain's Men, for which William Shakespeare was a part (and later a shareholder in the company) and for whom he wrote most of his plays during his career. Carey served under Elizabeth I of England at the time and was in charge of all court entertainment, a duty traditionally given to the Master of the Revels, a deputy of the Lord Chamberlain. Later, in 1603, James I of England, elevated the Chamberlain's Men to royal patronage and changed the name to the King's Men.
=== Theatre censorship ===
==== The Licensing Act 1737 ====
In 1737, Sir Robert Walpole officially introduced statutory censorship with the Licensing Act of 1737 by appointing the Lord Chamberlain to act as the theatrical censor. The Licensing Act 1737 gave the Lord Chamberlain the statutory authority to veto the performance of any new plays: he could prevent any new play, or any modification to an existing play, from being performed for any reason, and theatre owners could be prosecuted for staging a play (or part of a play) that had not received prior approval.
Historically though, the Lord Chamberlain had been exercising a commanding authority on London's theatre companies under the Royal Prerogative for many decades already. But by the 1730s the theatre was not controlled by royal patronage anymore. Instead it had become more of a commercial business. Therefore, the fact the Lord Chamberlain still retained censorship authority for the next 200 years gave him uniquely repressive authority during a period where Britain was experiencing "growing political enfranchisement and liberalization".
Even further confusion rested in the fact that Members of Parliament could not present changes to the censorship laws because although the Lord Chamberlain exercised his authority under statute law, he was still an official whose authority was derived from the Royal Prerogative.
==== Theatres Act 1843 ====
By the 1830s, it started to become clear that the theatre licensing system in England needed an upgrade. Playwrights, instead of representatives of minor theatres, actually initiated the final push for reform as they felt that their livelihoods were being negatively affected by the monopoly the larger theatres had on the industry, backed by the laws in the 1737 Act.
A Select Committee was formed in 1832 with the purpose of examining the laws that affected dramatic literature. Their main complaints were the lack of copyright protection for their work and more importantly that only two patent theatres in London could legitimately perform new plays. After more pressure from playwrights and theatre managers, the findings of the committee were finally presented to Parliament.
It was the proposals of this committee that Parliament implemented in the Theatres Act of 1843. The Act still confirmed the absolute powers of censorship enjoyed by the Lord Chamberlain but still slightly restricted his powers so that he could only prohibit the performance of plays where he was of the opinion that "it is fitting for the preservation of good manners, decorum or of the public peace so to do". The Act, however, did abolish the monopoly that the patent houses had in London, providing a minor win for playwrights and theatre managers wishing to produce new work.
==== Theatres Act 1968 ====
In 1909, a Joint Select Committee on Stage Plays (Censorship) was established and recommended that the Lord Chamberlain should continue to act as censor but that it could be lawful to perform plays without a licence from the Lord Chamberlain. However, King Edward VII refused to accept these recommendations. The outbreak of both World Wars put an end to any parliamentary initiatives to change the laws regarding theatre censorship for many years. In 1948, the first British Theatre Conference recommended the termination of theatre censorship with the plan to pursue parliamentary action to ratify this.
In the 1960s the debate to abolish theatre censorship rose again as a new generation of young playwrights came on the scene. They gained popularity with their new plays in local establishments, but since many were refused a licence by the Lord Chamberlain, they could not transfer to the West End. In the case of John Osborne's play A Patriot for Me, the Lord Chamberlain at the time, Lord Cobbold, was irritated that the play was so widely publicized even though he had banned it and therefore pursued legal action. In the end, the play was allowed to continue as it was. At this point, several widely regarded authors had all been censored by the Lord Chamberlain at one time or another, including playwrights Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. Sometimes censorship was self-serving. A comedy written for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the early 1960s had, as its plot, a jocular scheme to steal the Crown jewels. The Lord Chamberlain issued a one-line letter requiring the excision of that plot element. As Michael Palin, one of its authors and performers notes, that meant banning the entire production. Another Joint Select Committee was founded to further debate on the issue and present a solution. This time the argument largely centered around this issue on the portrayal of living and recently dead individuals, particularly in reference to the monarchy as well as politicians.
After much debate, the Theatres Act 1968 was finally passed; it officially abolished the censorship of the stage and repealed the Lord Chamberlain's power to refuse a licence to a play of any kind. The first London performance of the musical Hair was actually delayed until the Act was passed after a licence had been refused.
==== Aftermath ====
The battle regarding the abolition of censorship was largely a political one, fought on principle. Those who opposed the termination of this particular duty of the Lord Chamberlain were mostly concerned about how to protect the reputation of the royal family and the government instead of controlling obscenity and blasphemy on stage. However, this concern has largely been unfounded. Since the termination of censorship, British drama has flourished and produced several prominent playwrights and new works since. The abolition of censorship opened a floodgate of theatrical creativity.
==== The Lord Chamberlain’s plays ====
The long standing role of the Lord Chamberlain as theatrical censor resulted in an extensive archive of both licensed and unlicensed play scripts being preserved. The collection held at the British Library also includes correspondence and administrative documents related to the censorship process.
==Duties of the office==
The Lord Chamberlain is the most senior official of the Royal Household and oversees its business, including liaising with the other senior officers of the Household, chairing Heads of Department meetings, and advising in the appointment of senior Household officials. The Lord Chamberlain also undertakes ceremonial duties and serves as the channel of communication between the Sovereign and the House of Lords. 
Under Lord Airlie, the Lord Chamberlain’s ceremonial and non-executive role was altered to that of chief executive. Airlie initiated changes in the early 1990s under the auspices of "The Way Ahead Group". Under these plans the Queen agreed to pay tax, greater transparency for the public subsidy of the monarchy began and a greater emphasis on public relations started. In 1986, he produced a 1,393-page report recommending 188 changes for smoother operations of the Royal Household.
The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department of the Royal Household and its day-to-day work is headed by the Comptroller. It is responsible for organizing ceremonial activities including state visits, investitures, garden parties, the State Opening of Parliament, weddings and funerals.
On State and ceremonial occasions, the Lord Chamberlain carries specific symbols that represent his office: a white staff and a key (which is worn at the hip pocket). These insignia are returned to the monarch when the Lord Chamberlain retires from office; but if the monarch dies, the white staff is symbolically broken by the Lord Chamberlain and placed on the coffin of the deceased Sovereign at the end of the State Funeral service. This was last done by the Lord Parker of Minsmere, who broke his staff over the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
The Lord Chamberlain is ex-officio the Chancellor of the Royal Victorian Order, having possession of a Badge corresponding to that office. As such, they are often appointed to the said Order either upon appointment as Lord Chamberlain, or later in their career. The Lord Chamberlain also regulates the design and the wearing of court uniform and dress and how insignia are worn.
==List of Lords Chamberlain of the Household from 1399==
Name 	Began 	Ended 	Notes 	
Sir Thomas Erpingham 	1399 	1404 	 	
The Lord Grey of Codnor 	1404 	1413 	 	
The Lord FitzHugh 	1413 	1425 	 	
The Lord Cromwell 	 	1432 	First period in office 	
The Lord Bardolf 	1432 	1441 	 	
Sir Ralph Boteler,from 1441 The Lord Sudeley 	1441 	1447 	 	
The Lord Saye and Sele 	1447 	1450 	 	
The Lord Cromwell 	1450 	1455 	Second period in office 	
Thomas Stanley,from 1456 The Lord Stanley 	1455 	1459 	 	
The Earl of Salisbury 	1460 	1460 	 	
The Lord Hastings 	1461 	1470 	First period in office 	
Unknown 	1470 	1471 	Second reign of Henry VI 	
The Lord Hastings 	1471 	1483 	Second period in office 	
The Viscount Lovell 	1483 	1485 	 	
Sir William Stanley 	1485 	1494 	 	
Lord Daubeney 	1494 	1508 	 	
The Lord Herbert,from 1514 The Earl of Worcester 	1509 	1526 	 	
The Earl of Arundel 	1526 	1530 	 	
The Lord Sandys 	1530 	1540 	 	
Vacant 	1540 	1543 	 	
The Lord St John 	1543 	1545 	Created The Earl of Wiltshire in 1550 and The Marquess of Winchester in 1551 	
Unknown 	1545 	1546 	 	
The Earl of Arundel 	1546 	1550 	 	
The Lord Wentworth 	1550 	1551 	 	
The Lord Darcy of Chiche 	1551 	1553 	 	
Sir John Gage 	1553 	1556 	 	
Unknown 	1556 	1557 	 	
Sir Edward Hastingsfrom 1558 The Lord Hastings of Loughborough	1557 	1558 	 	
The Lord Howard of Effingham 	1558 	1572 	 	
The Earl of Sussex 	1572 	1585 	 	
The Lord Hunsdon 	1585 	1596 	Founded the famous Lord Chamberlain's Men for whom Shakespeare wrote for most of his career.	
The Lord Cobham 	1596 	1597 	 	
The Lord Hunsdon 	1597 	1603 	 	
Lord Thomas Howard,from 1603 The Earl of Suffolk 	1603 	1614 	 	
The Earl of Somerset 	1614 	1615 	 	
The Earl of Pembroke 	1615 	1626 	 	
The Earl of Montgomery,from 1630 The Earl of Pembroke 	1626 	1641 	 	
The Earl of Essex 	1641 	1642 	 	
Unknown 	1642 	1644 	 	
The Earl of Dorset 	1644 	1649 	 	
Vacant 	1649 	1655 	Position became vacant at the start of the Interregnum and the Commonwealth 	
Sir Gilbert Pickering, Bt 	1655 	1659 	Lord Chamberlain during The Protectorate 	
The Earl of Manchester 	1660 	1671 	 	
The Earl of St Albans 	1672 	1674 	 	
The Earl of Arlington 	1674 	1685 	 	
The Earl of Elgin and Earl of Ailesbury 	1685 	1685 	 	
The Earl of Mulgrave 	1685 	1688 	Created The Marquess of Normanby in 1694 and The Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in 1703 	
The Earl of Dorset 	1689 	1697 	 	
The Earl of Sunderland 	1697 	1697 	 	
Vacant 	1697 	1699 	The King did not accept the resignation of the Earl of Sunderland 	
The Duke of Shrewsbury 	1699 	1700 	 	
The Earl of Jersey 	1700 	1704 	 	
The Earl of Kentfrom 1706 The Marquess of Kent 	1704 	1710 	Created The Duke of Kent in 1710 and The Marquess Grey in 1740 	
The Duke of Shrewsbury 	1710 	1715 	 	
The Duke of Bolton 	1715 	1717 	 	
The Duke of Newcastle 	1717 	1724 	 	
The Duke of Grafton 	1724 	1757 	 	
The Duke of Devonshire 	1757 	1762 	 	
The Duke of Marlborough 	1762 	1763 	 	
The Earl Gower 	1763 	1765 	Created The Marquess of Stafford in 1786 	
The Duke of Portland 	1765 	1766 	 	
The Earl of Hertford 	1766 	1782 	First period in office; created The Marquess of Hertford in 1793 	
The Duke of Manchester 	1782 	1783 	 	
The Earl of Hertford 	1783 	1783 	Second period in office; created The Marquess of Hertford in 1793 	
The Earl of Salisbury,from 1789 The Marquess of Salisbury 	1783 	1804 	 	
The Earl of Dartmouth 	1804 	1810 	 	
Vacant 	1810 	1812 	 	
The Marquess of Hertford 	1812 	1821 	 	
The Duke of Montrose 	1821 	1827 	First period in office 	
The Duke of Devonshire 	1827 	1828 	First period in office 	
The Duke of Montrose 	1828 	1830 	Second period in office 	
The Earl of Jersey 	1830 	1830 	First period in office 	
The Duke of Devonshire 	1830 	1834 	Second period in office 	
The Earl of Jersey 	1834 	1835 	Second period in office 	
The Marquess Wellesley 	1835 	1835 	 	
The Marquess Conyngham 	1835 	1839 	 	
Earl of Uxbridge 	1839 	1841 	Succeeded as The Marquess of Anglesey in 1854 	
The Earl De La Warr 	1841 	1846 	First period in office 	
The Earl Spencer 	1846 	1848 	 	
The Marquess of Breadalbane 	1848 	1852 	First period in office 	
The Marquess of Exeter 	1852 	1852 	 	
The Marquess of Breadalbane 	1853 	1858 	Second period in office 	
The Earl De La Warr 	1858 	1859 	Second period in office 	
The Viscount Sydney 	1859 	1866 	First period in office 	
The Earl of Bradford 	1866 	1868 	 	
The Viscount Sydney 	1868 	1874 	Second period in office; created The Earl Sydney in 1874 	
The Marquess of Hertford 	1874 	1879 	 	
The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe 	1879 	1880 	 	
The Earl of Kenmare 	1880 	1885 	First period in office 	
The Earl of Lathom 	1885 	1886 	First period in office 	
The Earl of Kenmare 	1886 	1886 	Second period in office 	
The Earl of Lathom 	1886 	1892 	Second period in office 	
The Lord Carrington 	1892 	1895 	Created The Earl Carrington in 1895 and The Marquess of Lincolnshire in 1912 	
The Earl of Lathom 	1895 	1898 	Third period in office 	
The Earl of Hopetoun 	1898 	1900 	Created The Marquess of Linlithgow in 1902 	
The Earl of Clarendon 	1900 	1905 	 	
The Viscount Althorpfrom 1910 The Earl Spencer 	1905 	1912 	 	
The Lord Sandhurstfrom 1917 The Viscount Sandhurst 	1912 	1921 	 	
The Duke of Atholl 	1921 	1922 	 	
The Earl of Cromer 	1922 	1938 	 	
The Earl of Clarendon 	1938 	1952 	 	
The Earl of Scarbrough 	1952 	1963 	 	
The Lord Cobbold 	29 January 1963	30 November 1971	 	
The Lord Maclean 	1 December 1971	30 November 1984	 	
The Earl of Airlie 	1 December 1984	31 December 1997	 	
The Lord Camoys 	1 January 1998 	31 May 2000 	 	
The Lord Luce 	1 October 2000 	15 October 2006 	 	
The Earl Peel 	16 October 2006	31 March 2021 	 	Appointment of Lord Chamberlain at the Royal Household official website, 2006
The Lord Parker of Minsmere 	1 April 2021 	present 	 	
==See also==
*List of Lords Chamberlain to British royal consorts
*Lord Chamberlain's Office
*Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood
==References==
==Further reading==
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==External links==
*The Lord Chamberlain – Royal Household official website
*Chamber Administration: Lord Chamberlain, 1660–1837
*The Lord Chamberlain and censorship at The Theatre Archive Project
Category:Monarchy of the United Kingdom
Category:Theatre of the United Kingdom
Category:Positions within the British Royal Household
Category:Ceremonial officers in the United Kingdom
Category:Censorship in the United Kingdom