Air Commodore Sir Timothy Charles Elworthy, (born 27 January 1938) is a retired Royal Air Force (RAF) officer and courtier.

Early life

Elworthy was born on 27 January 1938, the son of Flying Officer (later Marshal of the Royal Air Force) Samuel Charles Elworthy and Audrey ( Hutchinson) Elworthy."Elworthy, Air Cdre Hon. Sir Timothy (Charles)"
''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

'' (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2018). Retrieved 4 July 2019. He was educated at Radley College in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

and later gained entrance to the Royal Air Force College Cranwell.

RAF career

Elworthy was commissioned into the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

in 1959. He was promoted to

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

on 28 January 1962, squadron leader on 1 January 1968, and awarded a Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air in the

1968 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1968 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

. Promoted wing commander on 1 January 1975, he commanded No. 29 Squadron RAF and later

RAF Leuchars Royal Air Force Leuchars or RAF Leuchars was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. Throughout the Cold War and beyond, the station was home to fighter aircraft which policed northern UK airspac ...

. After a series of command and staff positions, Elworthy was promoted to air commodore and appointed Director of Operational Requirements at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

in 1987. He served in that post until he was appointed Captain of the Queen's Flight from 14 January 1989. Then, in 1995, he became Air Equerry to the Queen, serving until 2001 (he was also Director of Royal Travel from 1997 to 2001). On retirement, he was appointed a

Knight 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, or ...

, having previously been appointed to Commander grade in the

1995 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1995 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's Offi ...

. He had also been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1986 New Year Honours, and was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elworthy, Timothy 1938 births Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Living people People educated at Radley College Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air Royal Air Force officers Sons of life peers Julius family Timothy