Background
He was the son of Adelbert Salusbury Cockayne Cust, 5th Baron Brownlow, and his wife Maud Buckle.
He was the son of Adelbert Salusbury Cockayne Cust, 5th Baron Brownlow, and his wife Maud Buckle.
He was educated at Eton, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, later being commissioned into the Grenadier Guards.
He fought in the First World War and left the Army with the rank of Lieutenant. He was Mayor of Grantham from 1934-1935. Brownlow also served as Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire from 1936 to 1950.
Upon the prince"s accession to the throne, Lord Brownlow became heavily involved in the abdication crisis which followed the new King"s intention to marry Mrs Simpson.
Brownlow personally accompanied Mrs Simpson on her flight to France to escape the media attention, and encouraged Mrs Simpson to renounce the idea of marriage to the King. Returning to England, Brownlow attempted to enlist the support of the King"s mother Queen Mary, but she refused to receive him.
Following the abdication, Lord Brownlow attempted to extricate himself from the former King"s circle, refusing to attend the Duke of Windsor"s marriage ceremony in 1937. The Duchess in particular never forgave the man who had once championed her.
In 1939 he was commissioned into the Royal Air Force Administrative and Special Duties Branch.
He was briefly involved in national politics when he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Aircraft Production Lord Beaverbrook from 1940 to 1941. He was promoted to Flying Officer in 1941 and Flight Lieutenant in 1943 and resigned his commission in March 1944 as Acting Squadron Leader. Lacking the Duchess of Windsor"s forgiveness following the abdication was one thing.
Following the accession of the new monarch, King George VI, Brownlow read without prior warning in the Court Circular, that he had been replaced as the Sovereign"s Lord-in-Waiting.
Phoning Buckingham Palace for an explanation, he was given the curt information that his resignation had been accepted - but he had never tendered lieutenant lieutenant was also made clear to him that the new King and his consort, Queen Elizabeth, had ordered that Brownlow"s name was never to appear in the "Court Circular" again.
The National Trust are now the owners of Belton House.