Lieutenant-Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...
Sir Martin John Gilliat (8 February 1913 – 27 May 1993) was a British soldier and courtier who served as Private Secretary to
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother for 37 years. Gilliat was a German prisoner of war in the Second World War, and was imprisoned in Colditz Castle.
Early life
Gilliat was born in Hertfordshire, the son of local landowner Sir John Babington Gilliat and Muriel Grinnell-Milne.
["Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Martin Gilliat", ''The Times'', London, 29 May 1993, p. 17.] Gilliat's parents both came from banking families, his paternal grandfather was
John Saunders Gilliat
John Saunders Gilliat (24 November 1829 – 11 February 1912) was a British banker and Conservative politician.
He was the son of and Mary Anne Saunders of Fernill, Berkshire. His father was founder J K Gilliat and Company, a merchant banking ...
,
Governor of the Bank of England
The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent grooming their successor. The governor of the Ba ...
from 1883 to 1885.
Gilliat's childhood was divided between The Cedars in
Chorleywood and Frogmore Hall, Hertfordshire, before moving to the Manor House in
Welwyn
Welwyn is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The parish also includes the villages of Digswell and Oaklands. It is sometimes referred to as Old Welwyn or Welwyn Village, to distinguish it from the much newer and larger ...
.
He attended
Ludgrove School
Ludgrove School is an English independent boys preparatory boarding school. Ludgrove was founded in 1892 at Ludgrove Hall in Middlesex by the Old Etonian sportsman Arthur Dunn. Dunn had been employed as a master at Elstree School, which sent b ...
,
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
and entered the
King's Royal Rifle Corps in 1933 after graduating from the
Royal Military College in Sandhurst.
Army career
Gilliat served with the Rifle Corps in Northern Ireland and Palestine prior to the outbreak of
World War II
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 opposing ...
, and was captured during the
Battle of Dunkirk
The Battle of Dunkirk (french: Bataille de Dunkerque, link=no) was fought around the French port of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) during the Second World War, between the Allies and Nazi Germany. As the Allies were losing the Battle of France on t ...
as part of the
British Expeditionary Force.
[ He made several attempts to escape, with one attempt lasting several days, but was transferred to the ]prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...
Oflag IV-C
Oflag IV-C, often referred to by its location at Colditz Castle, overlooking Colditz, Saxony, was one of the most noted German Army prisoner-of-war camps for captured enemy officers during World War II; ''Oflag'' is a shortening of ''Offiziersl ...
(Colditz Castle
Castle Colditz (or ''Schloss Colditz'' in German) is a Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony in Germany. The castle is between the towns of Hartha and Grimma on a hill spur over the r ...
) in 1940 where he remained until the end of the war. He was mentioned in dispatches and later rewarded with an MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
.[ After the war Gilliat served as Deputy Military Secretary to Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma during his brief term as the last ]Viceroy of India
The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...
in 1947–48, and as Comptroller to Malcolm MacDonald
Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is an English former professional footballer, manager and media figure. Nicknamed 'Supermac', Macdonald was a quick, powerfully built prolific goalscorer. He played for Fulham, Luton Town, Newcastle ...
, the High Commissioner for South-East Asia. In September 1947, while in Mountbatten's service, Gilliat and the author Alan Campbell-Johnson were driving through the Paharganj
Paharganj (literally 'hilly neighbourhood') is a neighbourhood of Central Delhi, located just west of the New Delhi Railway Station. Known as ''Shahganj'' or King's ganj or market place during Mughal era, it is one of the three administrative ...
district of Delhi when they were fired upon. The driver of their car was killed in the incident, and Gilliat suffered a substantial loss of blood, and a superficial head wound.
Gilliat was posted to Australia in 1953 to serve as Military Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia, Viscount Slim
Viscount Slim, of Yarralumla in the Capital Territory of Australia and of Bishopston in the City and County of Bristol, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1960 for Field Marshal Sir William Slim upon the en ...
[ and in 1970 served as a pallbearer at Slim's funeral. Gilliat was appointed a ]Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...
in 1954 after his assistance during the Australian visit of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...
during February 1954.
Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
After briefly serving as Assistant Private Secretary, Gilliat was chosen to replace Oliver Dawnay
Oliver Payan Dawnay CVO (4 April 192018 March 1988) was a British civil servant, banker, stockbroker, and private secretary to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother from 1951 to 1956."Captain Oliver Dawnay." ''The Times'', London, 21 March 1988, pg. ...
as Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 1956, and would hold the post until his death, 37 years later.[ Gilliat was succeeded as Assistant Private Secretary by Major Francis Legh.
Queen Elizabeth had been widowed for only three years when Gilliat entered her service at her London residence of ]Clarence House
Clarence House is a royal residence on The Mall in the City of Westminster, London. It was built in 1825–1827, adjacent to St James's Palace, for the Duke of Clarence, the future king William IV.
Over the years, it has undergone much exten ...
, his obituary in ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' credited him with helping her carve out a new role for herself and described his attitude: Like her, he took a genuine interest in the lives and doings of all with whom he came into contact and made them feel that they were important to him. He made no distinction between old and young, rich and poor, high and low, white and coloured. He thought the best of everyone – someone said of him, 'All Martin's geese are swans' – and treated them all alike.
Gilliat was an expert at 'breaking the ice' between nervous guests and the Queen at her parties. Gilliat once deployed his skills at a party for the young Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; (Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great ...
, the King of Thailand
The monarchy of Thailand (whose monarch is referred to as the king of Thailand; th, พระมหากษัตริย์ไทย, or historically, king of Siam; th, พระมหากษัตริย์สยาม) refers to the c ...
, by asking the king to demonstrate his skill of standing on his head, which the King did.
Gilliat and Queen Elizabeth were both passionate about steeplechasing
Steeplechase may refer to:
* Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles
* Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse raci ...
, and he eventually owned horses of his own after encouraging the Queen in the purchase of hers. He invested in theatrical productions, and found success with the 1984 London revival of '' Me and My Girl''.
Death
Gilliat died in 1993, after working for the Queen Mother for 37 years. He had been reluctant to leave her service, having worked for her for several months after his diagnosis of cancer despite his ailing health, and he remained in his post until three days before his death. The Queen later described him as "One of the kindest of people. He was always helping somebody". The portrait painter Andrew Festing likened Gilliat and the Queen Mother's relationship to that of brother and sister, saying that the pair bickered good naturedly.
His funeral was held in the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace
The Chapel Royal is an establishment in the Royal Household serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the British Royal Family. Historically it was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarch. The term is now also appl ...
, and attended by the Queen Mother.["Royal farewell", ''The Times'', London, 4 June 1993, p. 9.] Gilliat was succeeded as the Queen's private secretary by Alastair Aird. The British Royal Family later constructed a memorial cairn in the grounds of the Castle of Mey, the Queen Mother's Scottish home, for Gilliat and her friend and lady-in-waiting Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy who died in July 1993, a few weeks after Gilliat.
Honours
Gilliat appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of his native county of Hertfordshire in 1971, and made an honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple in 1977. The Queen Mother awarded Gilliat an honorary LL.D.
Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...
at the University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
in 1977. He received the Queen Elizabeth II Version of the Royal Household Long and Faithful Service Medal
The Royal Household Long and Faithful Service Medal is a civil decoration awarded by the British monarch to servants of the royal household for long and faithful service.
History
The Royal Household Long and Faithful Service Medal was establis ...
in 1976 for 20 years of service to the Royal Family.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilliat, Martin
1913 births
1993 deaths
British World War II prisoners of war
British Army personnel of World War II
Prisoners of war held at Colditz Castle
Deputy Lieutenants of Hertfordshire
English racehorse owners and breeders
Equerries
Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
King's Royal Rifle Corps officers
Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Members of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at Eton College
People educated at Ludgrove School
People from Chorleywood
People from Welwyn