Robert Lacey | |
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 Lacey at Surrey County Library's speaking event in 2012 | |
| Born | (1944-01-03)3 January 1944 (age 81) |
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| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Selwyn College, Cambridge |
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| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
Robert Lacey (born 3 January 1944) is a British historian and biographer. He is the author of a number of best-selling biographies, including those ofHenry Ford,[1]Eileen Ford,Queen Elizabeth II and otherroyals, as well as several other works of popular history. Nowadays he is best known for his work as historian to theNetflix dramaThe Crown. Lacey was educated atSelwyn College, Cambridge, where he studied history.
Robert grew up inBristol and won a scholarship toBristol Grammar School.[2]
Lacey is an alumnus ofSelwyn College, Cambridge, where he earned a BA in History in 1967, a diploma of education in 1967 and an MA in 1970.[3] He began his writing career as a journalist on theIllustrated London News, and laterThe Sunday Times.[4]
Lacey's 1981 workThe Kingdom, about theSaudi royal family and its 2009 follow-upInside the Kingdom have now both been cited as standard study texts for the diplomatic community working inside the Kingdom ofSaudi Arabia.David Brancaccio said: "In Saudi Arabia, Robert Lacey had the kind of access most journalists only dream of."[5]
To research and write the book Lacey took his wife and children to live for two and a half years inJeddah in the late 1970s. Friends he made there included journalistJamal Khashoggi. Lacey co-wrote his last three articles before Khashoggi was murdered in 2018.[6]
In 2009 Lacey made the controversial documentaryRehab for Terrorists?: Can Terrorists be Rehabilitated with Kindness? for theNow show for thePBS channel[7][8] and appeared as a commentator on the subject for the channel. Lacey is a royal correspondent, appearing regularly on ABC'sGood Morning America, and was in London for the channel covering thewedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.[9] Lacey remains active inacademia, giving lectures "around the world".[10]
Lacey is the historical consultant to theNetflix seriesThe Crown.[11] The series has been widely criticised in the UK - despite its commercial success - for its historical inaccuracies and artistic inventions; former National Trust chairman and ex-Times editor Simon Jenkins branded it "cowardly...fake history".[12]
Robert Lacey is trustee ofKent Opera,[13] which provides training and development for professional and amateuropera singers and educational and community workshops linked to operas.
During a live BBC broadcast covering the arrival of the coffin of the late Queen Elizabeth II in Edinburgh Lacey spoke of his admiration for John Knox, who he controversially claimed had "cleared the Catholics out of Scotland". Lacey's comments attracted almost 300 complaints and were reported in the national press.
His first marriage, to Alexandra Jane "Sandi" Avrach, ended in 2004 in a legal separation after 34 years. They had three children: Sasha, Scarlett and Bruno.[14]
In August 2012 Lacey marriedLady Jane Rayne (b. 11 August 1932), the daughter ofthe 8th Marquess of Londonderry and widow of property developerMax Rayne. Lady Jane Rayne Lacey is a founding member and director of the Chickenshed Theatre and was President of Trustees until her daughter Natasha took over in 2013.[15][16]
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Our first speaker is esteemed Royal Historian and Biographer Robert Lacey. Robert attended Bristol Grammar School from 1951-1962
For nearly forty years, Lacey has been writing about Queen Elizabeth II and her extraordinary life, making him an expert on her long reign and the royal family. Majesty, his pioneering biography of the Queen, is a landmark study of British monarchy – a subject on which Lacey lectures around the world, appearing regularly on television.
In Battle of Brothers, British historian and biographer Robert Lacey – a royal expert who acted as a historical consultant for The Crown – delves into the relationship between Prince Charles's two sons
