George Lascelles

Personal

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Family

British royal family member, statesman and opera buff, he is the 7th Earl of Harewood (1923). The elder son of Princess Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary and her husband Sir Henry George Charles Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood, his maternal grandparents were then-King George V and Queen Mary. He enjoyed a privileged upbringing, attended Eton and Oxford. After college, during WWII he enlisted Grenadier Guards and fought in Italy. He was captured by Germans in 1944 and held as a prisoner of war until May 1945. Lord Harewood served as a Counsellor of State in 1947, 1953-54, and 1956. An opera and classical music enthusiast he also enjoyed the game of football (soccer). In keeping with his primary artistic interests, he was editor of Opera magazine (1950 to 1953),director of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden (951 to 1953 and 1969 to 1972), chairman of the board of the English National Opera (1986 to 1995), its musical director (rom 1972 to 1985), and other leadership and influential positions in the world of music He authored or edited three books on his beloved art: Kobbé's Complete Opera Book, The Tongs and the Bones (an autobiography, 1981), and Kobbé's Illustrated Opera Book. In the world of football, he served as president of the Football Association from 1963 to 1972 and of Leeds United Football Club since 1983. On September 29, 1949, he married Marion Stein, a concert pianist and singer and they had three sons. They divorced in 1967 and on July 31st of that year, he married Patricia Tuckwell; they have one son together who was born out of wedlock two years prior to their wedding. He died July 11, 2011 at his family home near Leeds, England. Link to Wikipedia biography