Martin Michael Charles Charteris, Baron Charteris of Amisfield Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire QSO Personal Computer was a courtier of Queen Elizabeth World War II
Background
Charteris was the son of Hugo Francis Charteris, grandson of Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss and a brother of the 12th Earl of Wemyss. Mary Margesson (a daughter of the 1st Viscount Margesson) on 16 December 1944 in Jerusalem and they had three children.
Education
He was educated at Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was commissioned in the King"s Royal Rifle Corps.
Career
He fought in the Middle East during the Second World War, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He retired from the Army in 1951. In 1950, he was appointed Private Secretary to Princess Elizabeth, who was then Duchess of Edinburgh and heiress presumptive to the British throne.
From her accession in 1952 until 1972, he served as her Assistant Private Secretary under Sir Michael Adeane.
On Adeane"s retirement in 1972, he was promoted to Private Secretary. He held this post until his retirement in 1977 and returned to Eton as its Provost.
He was granted the honour of being a Permanent Lord in Waiting. Charteris was probably most outspoken in an interview he gave to The Spectator in 1995, in which he described the Duchess of York as "vulgar", the Prince of Wales as "whiney" and the Queen Mother as "a bit of an ostrich".