Richard Campbell Andrew Brandram, MC (5 August 1911 – 28 March 1994) was a major in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

who married

Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark Princess Katherine of Greece and DenmarkMarlene A. Eilers, ''Queen Victoria's Descendants'' (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987), page 165. ( el, Αικατερίνη; 4 May 1913 – 2 October 2007), styled in the United King ...

in 1947, which united him with most of the royal families in Europe.

Biography

Richard was born on 5 August 1911 at Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, England. Richard's father, Richard Andrew Brandram, head of a

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...

family, was the founder of the

Bickley Park School This is a list of schools in the London Borough of Bromley, England. State-funded schools Primary schools :''Source. (CE indicates Church of England and RC Roman Catholic schools).'' * Alexandra Infant School * Alexandra Junior School * Balg ...

in Kent, while his mother, Maud Campbell Blaker, was a housewife. He was educated at Tonbridge School and Pembroke College, Cambridge. He was a keen rugby union player, having played for the University, Blackheath, then one of the top sides in England and he also represented Kent in the county championship. In the summer of 1933 he was part of the Cambridge Vandals combined cricket and rugby tour to Canada and the United States, this was the first ever recorded tour of a British rugby team to either country. Touring as a rugby back division specialist he scored nine tries and was second top scorer. On 21 April 1947, Richard married

, daughter of King

Constantine I of Greece Constantine I ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Αʹ, ''Konstantínos I''; – 11 January 1923) was King of Greece from 18 March 1913 to 11 June 1917 and from 19 December 1920 to 27 September 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army ...

and Princess

Sophia of Prussia Sophia of Prussia (Sophie Dorothea Ulrike Alice, el, Σοφία; 14 June 1870 – 13 January 1932) was Queen consort of the Hellenes from 1913–1917, and also from 1920–1922. A member of the House of Hohenzollern and child of Frederick III, ...

, in the Royal Palace of Athens. The couple had met in 1946 when Brandram was returning to England from Baghdad on the RMS ''Ascania''. They had one son: * Richard ''Paul'' George Andrew Brandram (1 April 1948 – 9 May 2020); married, firstly, Jennifer Diane Steele (23 August 1951) on 12 February 1975 in London, England. The couple had three children: ** Sophie Eila Brandram (23 January 1981);Marlene A. Eilers, ''Queen Victoria's Descendants'' (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987), page 165. she married Humphrey Voelcker on 11 February 2017. They have two sons, Maximilian Walter (born 4 February 2018) and Alexander Paul (born 13 May 2019). ** Nicholas George Brandram (b. 23 April 1982); married Katrina Johanne Marie Davis (b. 21 March 1978) on 10 September 2011 and they were divorced in 2014. ** Alexia Katherine Brandram (b. 6 December 1985); married William John Palairet Hicks (b. 14 August 1983) on 29 April 2016 in London, England. The couple has one daughter, Theodora Katherine Anne (born 6 March 2019) and a son, Frederick William Paul (born 21 March 2021). Paul Brandram married, secondly, Katherine Moreton (b. 1954), on 19 September 2009 at

Walton, Warwickshire Walton or Walton d'Eiville is a small hamlet just south of Wellesbourne in the civil parish of Wellesbourne and Walton, in the Stratford-on-Avon District, in the county of Warwickshire, England. It is next to the River Dene and is most notable fo ...

. The couple had no children. On 25 August 1947, shortly before

Prince Philip 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 ...

, her first cousin, was due to

marry Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

the future Queen

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 ...

, King

George VI of the United Kingdom George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

granted Princess Katherine the status of the daughter of a duke in the British

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

. Brandram and his wife lived in

Eaton Square Eaton Square is a rectangular, residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is the largest square in London. It is one of the three squares built by the landowning Grosvenor family when they developed the main part of Belgravia ...

Belgravia Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...

, and later moved to Croft Cottage,

Marlow, Buckinghamshire Marlow (; historically Great Marlow or Chipping Marlow) is a town and civil parish within the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It is located on the River Thames, south-southwest of High Wycombe, west-northwest of Maidenhead and ...

. Katherine Brandram died in 2007. Richard Brandram died on 28 March 1994, at age 82, after a long illness.

Military career

Having been a cadet company sergeant major in the

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

Officers' Training Corps, Brandram was commissioned into the Territorial Army as a second lieutenant in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

on 15 July 1939. He served with the artillery during 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 opposin ...

, reaching the

war substantive Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in a m ...

rank of captain. On 31 August 1946 he transferred to the Regular Army as a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, with seniority from 1 August 1938, and was promoted to captain effective from 31 August 1946, with seniority from 5 August 1942. On 5 August 1947 he was promoted to major. On 7 February 1950 he was dismissed from the service by sentence of a general court-martial.

Honours

On 29 June 1944, Brandram was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

for "gallant and distinguished services in Italy" during the Second World War. On 20 March 1947 he was awarded the

Efficiency Medal The Efficiency Medal was instituted in 1930 for award to part-time warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and men after twelve years of efficient service on the active list of the Militia or the Territorial Army of the United Kingdom, or ...

(Territorial). This was replaced by the award of the

Territorial Efficiency Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer Officer's Decoration when the Te ...

on 21 April 1950 and his award of the Efficiency Medal consequently cancelled on 24 August 1951, but the award of the TD was also cancelled by forfeiture on 8 May 1953.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandram, Richard 1911 births 1994 deaths People from Bexhill-on-Sea Royal Artillery officers People educated at Tonbridge School Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Recipients of the Military Cross British Army personnel of World War II British Army personnel who were court-martialled People stripped of a British Commonwealth honour