Lieutenant-Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

John Michael Avison Parker, (23 June 1920 – 29 December 2001) was an Australian who served as an officer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

(RN) during World War II, and was

Private Secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in ...

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 ...

, from 1947 to 1957.

Early life and education

Parker was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on 23 June 1920. The son of Captain C. A. Parker, he was educated at

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. ...

Career

Parker served in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

, and then the

, between 1938 and 1947, reaching the rank of

lieutenant-commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

. He fought at the

Battle of Narvik The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940, as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian town of Narvik, as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War. ...

, and later was First Lieutenant of in 1942, then of in the 27th Destroyer Flotilla of the

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of empire naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944 from the remaining ships o ...

. Parker first met the then Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in 1942, when Philip was assigned to the destroyer HMS ''Wallace'' as a sub-lieutenant. They became close friends. In 1947, when Philip was created Duke of Edinburgh in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, Parker joined the Household of the Duke of Edinburgh as Private Secretary, initially on a part-time basis. He also became Equerry to the Duke and the

Duchess of Edinburgh Duchess of Edinburgh was the principal courtesy title held by the wife of the Duke of Edinburgh. There have been four Duchesses of Edinburgh since the title's creation. Following the accession of Charles III in 2022, the Dukedom of Edinburgh ...

(who later, in 1952, became The Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). The Duke brought Parker into the "Thursday Club," an exclusive weekly luncheon group. In 1952, Parker was in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

with the royal couple and broke the news initially to the Duke, who then told his wife, of King George VI's death. Parker became full-time Private Secretary to the Duke. Parker was created Member 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, or ...

(MVO) in 1953, and Commander (CVO) in 1957. He accompanied the Duke on his 1956 five-month world tour aboard HMY ''Britannia''. Parker's divorce in 1958, reported on extensively in the media, forced him to resign as the Duke's Private Secretary. He was succeeded in that role by James Orr. Parker remained in contact with the Duke until the end of his life. Parker worked for aircraft builder

Lockheed Corporation The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but ot ...

and advertising agency

Leo Burnett Worldwide Leo Burnett Worldwide, Inc., also known as Leo Burnett Company, Inc., is an American advertising company, founded on August 5, 1935, in Chicago by Leo Burnett. In September 2002, the company was acquired by Publicis Groupe, the world's third ...

. He returned to live in Australia in the late 1960s. He became chairman of Australian Dredging and General Services, and was a director of Sperry Australia. In the 1996 Australia Day Honours, he was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Order (distinction), honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of Australia, Queen of Aus ...

for "service to education, particularly through the Plain English Speaking Award Scheme, and to the community".

Personal life

Parker married Eileen Allan in 1942, with whom he had a son and a daughter. The marriage was dissolved in 1958. Eileen wrote a 1982 book called ''Step Aside for Royalty'' in which she claimed her husband and the Duke of Edinburgh used the pseudonyms

Murgatroyd and Winterbottom The comedy act Mr Murgatroyd and Mr Winterbottom ("Two minds with not a single thought") was a popular feature of BBC radio in the 1930s and 1940s. It was written and performed by Ronald Frankau (Murgatroyd) and Tommy Handley. Handley's biographe ...

to "gallivant out of the palace". Parker denied the claim. In 1962 Parker married Carol Serena, daughter of Sir Ivo Wilfrid Home Thompson, 2nd Baronet.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th ed., vol. 3, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 3892 They had a daughter and son; the marriage was dissolved. In 1976, he married Jean Ramsay, who died in 2001. Parker died in

, Australia, in December 2001.

In popular culture

Parker is portrayed by Daniel Ings in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

series ''

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Michael 1920 births 2001 deaths Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Members of the British Royal Household Members of the Order of Australia People educated at Xavier College Royal Australian Navy officers Royal Navy officers of World War II