David Robin Francis Guy Greville, 8th Earl of Warwick, 8th Earl Brooke (15 May 1934 – 20 January 1996) was a British peer and landowner. He was the last private owner of the Greville family seat at

Warwick Castle Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from a wooden fort, originally built by William I of England, William the Conqueror during 1068. Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, situated on a meander of the River Avon, Warwic ...

. Greville was known as

Earl Brooke Earl of Warwick is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which has been created four times in English history. The name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick. Overview The first creation came in 1088, and the title was held b ...

before he succeeded his father. He was a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

from 1984 until his death.

Early life

David Robin Francis Guy Greville was born at

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

, Warwickshire, England on 15 May 1934, as the only child to

Charles Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick Charles Guy Fulke Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick, 7th Earl Brooke (4 March 1911 – 20 January 1984), was a British peer and the last Earl of Warwick to live at the family seat Warwick Castle before its sale in 1978. He became the first British ...

and his first wife, Rose Greville, Countess of Warwick (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Bingham). His parents divorced in 1938, when he was four years old, and custody was awarded to his father. Warwick_leaves_8064

Greville's mother was the daughter of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

David Cecil Bingham. His mother was also the granddaughter of James St Clair-Erskine, 5th Earl of Rosslyn and Major-General Sir

Cecil Edward Bingham Major-General Sir Cecil Edward Bingham (7 December 1861 – 31 May 1934) was a British Army officer who held high command during World War I. Military career Born the son of Charles Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan,''Burke's Peerage and Baronet ...

, and a descendant of George Bingham, the 4th Earl of Lucan. Greville was educated at

Summerfields, St Leonards-on-Sea Summerfields was a boys' preparatory school in the St Leonards-on-Sea area of Hastings, East Sussex. It occupied the buildings previously known as Bohemia House. Bohemia House was built in 1818, by the architect John (Yorky) Smith, and occupi ...

, in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, East Sussex, and

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. He served his

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

as a Second Lieutenant in the Life Guards, after a period of training at the

Mons Officer Cadet School Mons Officer Cadet School was a British military training establishment for officer cadets in Aldershot from 1942 to 1972, when it was closed and all officer training concentrated at Sandhurst. The training course at Mons was for National Servic ...

. He then joined the part-time

Warwickshire Yeomanry The Warwickshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794, which served as cavalry and machine gunners in the First World War and as a cavalry and an armoured regiment in the Second World War, before being amalg ...

and trained as an accountant.

Public life

Greville, widely known as "Brookie", through the later 1960s and 1970s, was prominent in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

society. He was a lover of books, horses and parties, and was also an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

artist. In 1967, Greville's

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

transferred

and other estates to his son and

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

, who in 1978 sold the castle to

the Tussauds Group The Tussauds Group was an entertainment company which is now a part of Merlin Entertainments. It was based in Poole, Dorset from where it managed a portfolio of brands and over 50 attractions that included the Madame Tussauds waxworks, Legol ...

for £1.3 M. It had been in the Greville family for 374 years, and its sale caused a public confrontation between him and his father. Greville said he had acted as he had because he believed a Labour Government would confiscate the castle. The avoid further death duties, he sold the family art collection, including the Warwick Vase. He also sold several tons of family papers to

Warwickshire County Council Warwickshire County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Warwickshire in England. Its headquarters are at Shire Hall in the centre of Warwick, the county town. The council's principal functions are county ro ...

and went into

tax exile A tax exile is a person who leaves a country to avoid the payment of income tax or other taxes. The term refers to an individual who already owes money to the tax authorities or wishes to avoid being liable in the future for taxation at what they ...

, with homes at Pelican Point in the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and no ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Gstaad Gstaad ( , ) is a town in the German language, German-speaking section of the Canton of Bern in southwestern Switzerland. It is part of the municipality of Saanen and is known as a major ski resort and a popular destination amongst high society ...

, and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Personal life

Greville married Sarah Anne Chester Beatty, a socialite and former fashion model who was the

paternal A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fathe ...

granddaughter of the American mining magnate

Alfred Chester Beatty Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, (7 February 1875 – 19 January 1968) was an American mining magnate and philanthropist. A successful businessman, he was given the epithet the "King of Copper", in reference to his fortune. He became a naturalised Br ...

(the "King of

Copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

"), in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

on 28 June 1956, less than 24 hours after their engagement was announced. Later that afternoon, his

issued a statement, reading:

Because of the illness of Mr. Alfred Chester Beatty, Lord Brooke and Miss Sarah Chester Beatty were married quietly at
Chelsea Register Office Kensington and Chelsea Register Office is an office for the registration of births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships located in Chelsea Old Town Hall in Chelsea, London. It has hosted the weddings of many notable people. According to '' ...
to-day. A small
reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another p ...
was held afterwards at which Mrs. Chester Beatty, Lord Warwick and Mrs Bassett (Lord Brooke's parents) and a few close family friends were present to drink the health of the bride and bridegroom before their departure on their honey-moon.

They had two children together; a son and heir,

Guy Greville, 9th Earl of Warwick Guy David Greville, 9th Earl of Warwick, 9th Earl Brooke (born 30 January 1957) is a British peer. He was a crossbench member of the House of Lords from 1996 to 1999. Greville was styled as Lord Brooke from 1984. On 20 January 1996, he succeede ...

(born 30 January 1957), and a daughter, Lady Charlotte Anne Greville (born 6 June 1958). He filed for divorce in the London Divorce Court on 13 April 1967, after 11 years of marriage. Their divorce was finalised four months later. His niece was Iona ''Annabelle'' Neilson, a socialite. In 1979, Greville's daughter married Andrew Fraser, the youngest son of

Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat Brigadier Simon Christopher Joseph Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, (9 July 1911 – 16 March 1995) was a prominent Scottish born British Commando during the Second World War and the 24th Chief of the Clan Fraser of Lovat. Known familiarly as Shimi L ...

. They had two daughters together, Daisy Rosamond (born 1985) and Laura Alfreda (born 1987). On 15 March 1994, his son-in-law was killed in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

by a charging

buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

. He had a grandson, Charles Fulke Chester Greville, Lord Brooke (born 1982), the

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

, from his son's first marriage.

Death

Greville died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

Torremolinos Torremolinos () is a municipality in Andalusia, southern Spain, west of Málaga. A poor fishing village before the growth in tourism began in the late 1950s, Torremolinos was the first of the Costa del Sol resorts to be developed and is still th ...

, Andalusia, Spain on 20 January 1996. He was 61. A fourth grandchild, a grandson, Rudolf Maxwell Greville, was born in 2003, from his son's second marriage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warwick, David Greville, 8th Earl 1934 births 1996 deaths British Life Guards officers Earls in the Peerage of Great Britain 8 Graduates of the Mons Officer Cadet School David Guy People educated at Eton College