Shane William Desmond Alexander, 2nd Earl Alexander of Tunis (born 30 June 1935), styled Lord Rideau between 1952 and 1969, is a British hereditary peer.

Biography

Alexander is the elder son of Field Marshal

Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, (10 December 1891 – 16 June 1969) was a senior British Army officer who served with distinction in both the First and the Second World War and, afterwards, as Governor G ...

and Lady

Margaret Bingham Margaret Bingham, Countess of Lucan (1740 – 27 February 1814)Ernest Radford, "Bingham, Margaret, Countess of Lucan (c. 1740–1814)", rev. V. Remington, ODNB, Oxford University Press, 200Retrieved 4 October 2014/ref> was an English painter, co ...

(1905–1977), daughter of

George Bingham, 5th Earl of Lucan Colonel George Charles Bingham, 5th Earl of Lucan, 1st Baron Bingham, (13 December 1860 – 20 April 1949), known by the courtesy title of Lord Bingham from 1888 to 1914, was a British soldier and Conservative politician. Early life Lucan was ...

. He was educated at Harrow and

Ashbury College Ashbury College is an independent day and boarding school located in the Rockcliffe Park area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was originally founded in 1891 by former faculty of Bishop's College School in Quebec to accommodate BCS students living ...

. He joined the

Irish Guards ("Who Shall Separate s") , colors = , identification_symbol_2 Saffron (pipes), identification_symbol_2_label = Tartan , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label = Tactical Recognition F ...

in 1954. He succeeded his father in the earldom following his death on 16 June 1969. Alexander served as a Lord-in-waiting from 8 January 1974 until 4 March 1974, at the end of

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

's premiership.Butler, D. & Butler, G. (1994) ''British Political Facts 1900−1994''. 7th edn. Basingstoke and London: The Macmillan Press, p. 35. He has also been a director of the Pathfinder Financial Corporation (firm.dissolved 1988) in Toronto in 1980. As a descendant of the

Earls of Caledon Earl of Caledon, of Caledon in the County of Tyrone, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for James Alexander, 1st Viscount Caledon. He was a merchant who had made an enormous fortune in India. He also represented the ...

, he is also in the remainder to that title and was the

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

from 1980 to 1990.

Marriages and children

Alexander married firstly Hilary van Geest on 14 July 1971. They were divorced in 1976 without having had any children. He married secondly Davinia Mary Woodhouse, daughter of

David Woodhouse, 4th Baron Terrington Major James Allen David Woodhouse, 4th Baron Terrington (30 December 1915 – 6 May 1998) was a Baron in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and Deputy Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords. He was a member of the London Stock Exchange and a ...

, on 22 July 1981. She is a former lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. They have two daughters: * Lady Rose Margaret Alexander (born 23 April 1982), a god-daughter of Princess Margaret, who married James Hardinge Houssemayne Du Boulay on 6 February 2015 and has issue; * Lady Lucy Caroline Alexander (born 1984), who married James Shaun Christian Welbore Ellis Agar, 7th Earl of Normanton, in June 2012 and has issue. As Alexander has no son, the heir presumptive to his earldom is his younger brother, the Honourable Brian James Alexander, CMG (born 1939). He is the last person in line to succeed to the earldom and subsidiary titles.

References

External links

*
A photograph of Lord Alexander of Tunis en route to school in 1948 in La Patrie (a French-language Montreal daily, now defunct).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander of Tunis, Shane Alexander, 2nd Earl 1935 births Living people People educated at Harrow School Irish Guards officers

Shane Shane may refer to: People * Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress * Shane (New Zealand singer) (born 1946) * iamnotshane (born 1995), formerly known as Shane, American singer * Shane (name) Shane is mainly a masculine g ...

Place of birth missing (living people) Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers