Ұлыбритания Корольдық үйінің бас кеңсесінің басқарушысы

Most senior official of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom

The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main channel of communication between the Sovereign and the House of Lords. The office organises all ceremonial activity such as garden parties, state visits, royal weddings, and the State Opening of Parliament. They also oversee the Royal Mews and Royal Travel, as well as the ceremony around the awarding of honours. From 1737 to 1968, the Lord Chamberlain had the power to decide which plays would be granted a licence for performance; this meant that he had the capacity to censor theatre at his pleasure. The Lord Chamberlain is always sworn of the Privy Council, is usually a peer and before 1782 the post was of Cabinet rank. The position was a political one until 1924. The office dates from the Middle Ages when the King's Chamberlain often acted as the King's spokesman in Council and Parliament. The current Lord Chamberlain is the Lord Parker of Minsmere, who has been in office since 1 April 2021.

During the early modern period, the Lord Chamberlain was one of the three principal officers of the Royal Household, the others being the Lord Steward and the Master of the Horse. The Lord Chamberlain was responsible for the "chamber" or the household "above stairs": that is, the series of rooms used by the Sovereign to receive increasingly select visitors, terminating in the royal bedchamber (although the bedchamber itself came to operate semi autonomously under the Groom of the Stool/Stole). His department not only furnished the servants and other personnel (such as physicians and bodyguards, the Yeomen of the Guard and Gentlemen Pensioners) in intimate attendance on the Sovereign but arranged and staffed ceremonies and entertainments for the court. He had (secular) authority over the Chapel Royal, and through the reabsorption of the Wardrobe into the Chamber, was also responsible for the Office of Works, the Jewel House, and other functions more removed from the Sovereign's person, many of which were reorganized and removed from the Chamberlain's purview in 1782. As other responsibilities of government were devolved to ministers, the ordering of the Royal Household was largely left to the personal taste of the Sovereign. To ensure that the chamber reflected the royal tastes, the Lord Chamberlain received commands directly from the sovereign to be transmitted to the heads of subordinate departments.

In 1737, Sir Robert Walpole officially introduced statutory censorship with the Licensing Act of 1737 by appointing the Lord Chamberlain to act as the theatrical censor. The Licensing Act 1737 gave the Lord Chamberlain the statutory authority to veto the performance of any new plays: he could prevent any new play, or any modification to an existing play, from being performed for any reason, and theatre owners could be prosecuted for staging a play (or part of a play) that had not received prior approval. Historically though, the Lord Chamberlain had been exercising a commanding authority on London's theatre companies under the Royal Prerogative for many decades already. But by the 1730s the theatre was not controlled by royal patronage anymore. Instead it had become more of a commercial business. Therefore, the fact the Lord Chamberlain still retained censorship authority for the next 200 years gave him uniquely repressive authority during a period where Britain was experiencing "growing political enfranchisement and liberalization". Even further confusion rested in the fact that Members of Parliament could not present changes to the censorship laws because although the Lord Chamberlain exercised his authority under statute law, he was still an official whose authority was derived from the Royal Prerogative. Another Joint Select Committee was founded to further debate on the issue and present a solution. This time the argument largely centered around this issue on the portrayal of living and recently dead individuals, particularly in reference to the monarchy as well as politicians.

The battle regarding the abolition of censorship was largely a political one, fought on principle. Those who opposed the termination of this particular duty of the Lord Chamberlain were mostly concerned about how to protect the reputation of the royal family and the government instead of controlling obscenity and blasphemy on stage. However, this concern has largely been unfounded. Since the termination of censorship, British drama has flourished and produced several prominent playwrights and new works since. The abolition of censorship opened a floodgate of theatrical creativity. The collection held at the British Library also includes correspondence and administrative documents related to the censorship process.

The Lord Chamberlain is the most senior official of the Royal Household and oversees its business, including liaising with the other senior officers of the Household, chairing Heads of Department meetings, and advising in the appointment of senior Household officials. The Lord Chamberlain also undertakes ceremonial duties and serves as the channel of communication between the Sovereign and the House of Lords. In 1986, he produced a 1,393 page report recommending 188 changes for smoother operations of the Royal Household. The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department of the Royal Household and its day to day work is headed by the Comptroller. It is responsible for organizing ceremonial activities including state visits, investitures, garden parties, the State Opening of Parliament, weddings and funerals. but if the monarch dies, the white staff is symbolically broken by the Lord Chamberlain and placed on the coffin of the deceased Sovereign at the end of the State Funeral service. This was last done by the Lord Parker of Minsmere, who broke his staff over the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. As such, they are often appointed to the said Order either upon appointment as Lord Chamberlain, or later in their career. The Lord Chamberlain also regulates the design and the wearing of court uniform and dress and how insignia are worn.

Name Began Ended Notes 2=Reference (Ref.) Sir Thomas Erpingham 1399 1404 The Lord Grey of Codnor 1404 1413 The Earl of Salisbury,from 1789 The Marquess of Salisbury 1783 1804 The Earl of Dartmouth 1804 1810 The Duke of Montrose 1821 1827 First period in office The Duke of Devonshire 1827 1828 First period in office The Marquess Wellesley 1835 1835 The Marquess of Breadalbane 1848 1852 First period in office The Marquess of Exeter 1852 1852 The Marquess of Breadalbane 1853 1858 Second period in office The Earl De La Warr 1858 1859 Second period in office The Viscount Sydney 1859 1866 First period in office The Earl of Bradford 1866 1868 The Viscount Sydney 1868 1874 Second period in office; created The Earl Sydney in 1874 The Marquess of Hertford 1874 1879 The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe 1879 1880 The Earl of Kenmare 1880 1885 First period in office The Earl of Lathom 1885 1886 First period in office The Earl of Kenmare 1886 1886 Second period in office The Earl of Lathom 1886 1892 Second period in office The Lord Carrington 1892 1895 Created The Earl Carrington in 1895 and The Marquess of Lincolnshire in 1912 The Earl of Hopetoun 1898 1900 Created The Marquess of Linlithgow in 1902 The Viscount Althorpfrom 1910 The Earl Spencer 1905 1912 The Lord Sandhurstfrom 1917 The Viscount Sandhurst 1912 1921 The Duke of Atholl 1921 1922 The Earl of Cromer 1922 1938 The Lord Maclean 1 December 1971 30 November 1984 The Earl of Airlie 1 December 1984 31 December 1997 The Lord Camoys 1 January 1998 31 May 2000 The Lord Luce 1 October 2000 15 October 2006 The Earl Peel 16 October 2006 31 March 2021 The Lord Parker of Minsmere 1 April 2021 Present