Denys Gravenor Rhodes (9 July 1919 – 30 October 1981) was an English writer. He was best known for his novel ''The Syndicate'', which was adapted into a 1968 film.

Early life and background

Rhodes was born in Ireland, the son of (Arthur) Tahu Gravenor Rhodes, MVO (d. 1947), a solicitor and Captain in the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

, by his wife, Hon. Helen Cecil Olive, eldest daughter of the 5th Lord Plunket,

Governor of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand ( mi, te kāwana tianara o Aotearoa) is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and l ...

from 1904 to 1910. His paternal grandfather was the New Zealand politician Arthur Edgar Gravenor Rhodes OBE and his granduncle was the politician and pastoralist William Barnard Rhodes. Rhodes served in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

with the Rifle Brigade, fighting in North Africa and Italy.

Personal life

He was married twice. His first marriage was to actress

Rachel Gurney Rachel Gurney (5 March 1920 – 24 November 2001) was an English actress. She began her career in the theatre towards the end of World War II and then expanded into television and film in the 1950s. She remained active, mostly in television a ...

in 1946. The couple had a daughter, Sharon Gurney. The marriage was annulled in 1950. His second marriage was on 31 July 1950 to The Honourable Margaret Elphinstone (1925–2016), a

first cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

. Princess Margaret served as a bridesmaid. The couple had four children and one grandson: *Annabel Margaret Rhodes (born 21 February 1952); served as a bridesmaid to Princess Margaret in 1960. She married Christopher James Downing Strickland-Skailes in 1978. They have one son. She remarried (Geoffrey Vallack) Charles Cope in 1986. **Andrew James Downing Strickland-Skailes (born 1980) *Victoria Ann Rhodes (born 27 September 1953), a goddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II; married Nicholas Deans in 1974. *Simon John Gravenor Rhodes (born 22 February 1957), a godson of Princess Margaret; married Susan Simon in 1983. *Michael Andrew Gravenor Rhodes (born 8 June 1960) After his second marriage, Rhodes lived and wrote at Uplowman HouseDebrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage 1963, Kelly's Directories, pg 453 and pg 961 at

Uplowman Uplowman () is a village and civil parish in Devon, situated about 4 miles north-east of the town of Tiverton. The parish is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of Hockworthy, Sampford Peverell, Halberton, Tiverton, and Huntsha ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, until inoperable

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

led to a move nearer

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. They were offered The Garden House in

Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for man ...

by the Queen, where his wife continued to live until her own death in 2016, and where she wrote her 2011 memoir, ''The Final Curtsey''.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Denys 1919 births 1981 deaths English writers Moorhouse–Rhodes family