Old Etonians

This is a list of notable former pupils of Eton College, a 13–18 public fee-charging and boarding secondary school for boys in Eton, Berkshire, England. Former pupils of the school are known as Old Etonians.

Former pupils

Politics

Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, first Prime Minister of Great Britain
William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
William Ewart Gladstone, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Alec Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
David Cameron, Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Boris Johnson, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Abhisit Vejjajiva, former Prime Minister of Thailand
Kwasi Kwarteng, former Chancellor of the Exchequer^[1]
Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Lord Curzon, former Viceroy of India
Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire, former Governor General of Canada
Tam Dalyell, former Labour MP

Eton has produced twenty British prime ministers. Eleven of them are shown above.

Royalty and nobility

A number of blue-blooded pupils come to Eton from aristocratic and royal families from six continents, some of whom have been sending their sons to Eton for generations. This is an incomplete list.

British

Lord William Beauchamp Nevill (1860–1939)
Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster (1879–1953)
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1900–1974)
George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood (1923–2011), son of Mary, Princess Royal and Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood^[2]
John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough (1926–2014)^[3]
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (born 1935)
Prince William of Gloucester (1941–1972)
Prince Michael of Kent (born 1942)^[4]
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (born 1944)
Henry Alan Walter Richard Percy, 11th Duke of Northumberland (1953 – 1995)
George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews (born 1962)^[5]
James Ogilvy (born 1964), son of Princess Alexandra and the Rt Hon. Sir Angus Ogilvy
Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer (born 1964), brother of Diana, Princess of Wales^[6]
Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster (born 1974)
Lord Frederick Windsor (born 1979)
William, Prince of Wales (born 1982)^[7]
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (born 1984)^[8]
Edward Windsor, Lord Downpatrick (born 1988)^[9]
Lord Max Percy (born 1990), son of Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland
Samuel Chatto (born 1996), son of Lady Sarah Chatto and Daniel Chatto
Arthur Chatto (born 1999), son of Lady Sarah Chatto and Daniel Chatto
Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (born 1999)^[10]

Foreign

Prince Tokugawa Iesato (1863–1940)
Aga Khan III (1877–1957)^[11]
Prince Eustachy Sapieha (1881–1963)^{[citation needed]}
Prajadhipok, King Rama VII of Siam (1893–1941)^[12]
Leopold III of Belgium (1901–1983)
Prince Nicholas of Romania (1903–1978)
Birendra of Nepal (1945–2001)
Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia (born 1945)^[13]
Zera Yacob Amha Selassie, Head of the Imperial House of Ethiopia^[14]
Dipendra of Nepal (1971–2001)^[15]
Prince Nirajan of Nepal (1978–2001)^[16]

Writers

Scientists

Robert Boyle, chemist
John Gurdon, biologist and Nobel laureate
J. B. S. Haldane, biologist and statistician
Henry Moseley, physicist
John Maynard Smith, biologist and geneticist
John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, physicist
Stephen Wolfram, computer scientist
Richard Wrangham, biological anthropologist

Journalists

Timothy Brinton, 1950s BBC newsreader and 1960s ITN newscaster
Nicholas Coleridge, president of Conde Nast International and managing director of Condé Nast UK
Geordie Greig, current editor of The Mail on Sunday
Julian Haviland, former political editor of ITN and The Times
David Jessel, BBC current affairs presenter
Ludovic Kennedy, former ITN newscaster and BBC Panorama presenter
James Landale, current BBC diplomatic correspondent
Charles Moore, Baron Moore of Etchingham, former editor of The Daily Telegraph
Ferdinand Mount, former editor of The Spectator
John Oaksey, former chief ITV and Channel 4 racing commentator
David Shukman, BBC science editor
Corbet Woodall, 1960s BBC newsreader

Actors

Music

Thomas Arne, composer
Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt, 14th Lord Berners, composer and novelist
George Butterworth, composer
John Macleod Campbell Crum, priest and hymnwriter
Thomas Dunhill, composer
Victor Hely-Hutchinson, composer and conductor
Frederick Septimus Kelly, musician and composer
Humphrey Lyttelton, jazz trumpeter
Hubert Parry, writer of the hymn "Jerusalem" and the coronation anthem "I was glad"
Roger Quilter, composer
Donald Tovey, musicologist
Frank Turner, musician
Atticus Ross, musician and film composer
Philip Heseltine, Anglo-Welsh composer and writer (pseudonym Peter Warlock)

Others

Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Nazi SA Obergruppenführer
Francis Bertie, 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame, ambassador
Henry Blofeld, cricket commentator
Beau Brummell, dandy
Guy Burgess, diplomat and spy
Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, WWI commander and Governor-General of Canada
Alan Clark, MP and author
James Colthurst, radiologist and friend of Diana, Princess of Wales
Piers Courage, Formula 1 racing driver
Charles Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of Home, father of Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home
Ranulph Fiennes, explorer
Alexander Fiske-Harrison, bullfighter and author
Ivo Graham, comedian
Bear Grylls, adventurer
William Inge, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral
John Maynard Keynes, economist
Richard Layard, Baron Layard, economist
Oliver Leese, WWII commander 8th Army
Frederick Stanley Maude, WWI commander
Stewart Menzies, WWII head of MI6
Alexander Nix, CEO of Cambridge Analytica
Nigel Oakes, CEO of Behavioural Dynamics Institute and SCL Group
Lawrence Oates, Antarctic explorer
Derek Parfit, philosopher
Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer, WWI commander
Paul Raison, art historian and former Chairman of Christie's
Timothy Raison, MP and Government minister
Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson, WWI commander, ultimately Commander in Chief India
Charles Studd, cricketer and missionary
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
Henry Maitland Wilson, WWII commander
Timothy Yates, theologian, vicar and historian

Thirty-seven Old Etonians have been awarded the Victoria Cross—the largest number to alumni of any school (see List of Victoria Crosses by school).

References

^ "Who is Kwasi Kwarteng? Chancellor who won University Challenge". BBC News. 22 September 2022.
^ Sutcliffe, Tom (11 July 2011). "The Earl of Harewood obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
^ "The Duke of Marlborough obituary". The Guardian. London. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
^ "The Prince". Prince Michael of Kent. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
^ Specter, Francesca (10 January 2018). "Lady Amelia Windsor parents: Who are the Instagram famous royal's parents?". Daily Express. London. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
^ Silverman, Rosa (2 January 2015). "I wished I'd been sent to state school, says Earl Spencer". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
^ Smithers, Rebecca (28 August 1999). "Eton's reputation takes another knock as its A-level ranking plunges". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
^ Maley, Jacqueline (14 February 2006). "£45,000 damages for Prince Harry teacher". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
^ "Louis Spencer, the Duke of Westminster and many more – now Prince Harry is off the market, who are our most eligible bachelors?". The Telegraph. London. 23 May 2018. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
^ Colacello, Bob (10 March 2017). "How the Earl of Snowdon Turned His Heritage into a Lifestyle". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
^ Sowers, Richard (25 February 2014). The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes: A Comprehensive History. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-7698-5.
^ Suwannathat-Pian, Kobkua (16 December 2013). Kings, Country and Constitutions: Thailand's Political Development 1932–2000. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-85523-8.
^ "Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, globe-trotting playboy prince – obituary". The Telegraph. London. 18 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
^ "Lost: one Lion Emperor, last seen in the Isle of Dogs". The Independent. London. 26 January 1997. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
^ Sharma, Madhusudan (2 June 2001). "Eton's royal connection". BBC News. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
^ "Eton's royal connection". BBC News. 2 June 2001. Retrieved 4 May 2020.

[1] "Who is Kwasi Kwarteng? Chancellor who won University Challenge". BBC News. 22 September 2022.

[2] Sutcliffe, Tom (11 July 2011). "The Earl of Harewood obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 May 2020.

[3] "The Duke of Marlborough obituary". The Guardian. London. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2020.

[4] "The Prince". Prince Michael of Kent. Retrieved 3 August 2020.

[5] Specter, Francesca (10 January 2018). "Lady Amelia Windsor parents: Who are the Instagram famous royal's parents?". Daily Express. London. Retrieved 4 May 2020.

[6] Silverman, Rosa (2 January 2015). "I wished I'd been sent to state school, says Earl Spencer". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2020.

[7] Smithers, Rebecca (28 August 1999). "Eton's reputation takes another knock as its A-level ranking plunges". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 May 2020.

[8] Maley, Jacqueline (14 February 2006). "£45,000 damages for Prince Harry teacher". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 May 2020.

[9] "Louis Spencer, the Duke of Westminster and many more – now Prince Harry is off the market, who are our most eligible bachelors?". The Telegraph. London. 23 May 2018. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2020.

[10] Colacello, Bob (10 March 2017). "How the Earl of Snowdon Turned His Heritage into a Lifestyle". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 4 May 2020.

[11] Sowers, Richard (25 February 2014). The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes: A Comprehensive History. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-7698-5.

[12] Suwannathat-Pian, Kobkua (16 December 2013). Kings, Country and Constitutions: Thailand's Political Development 1932–2000. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-85523-8.

[13] "Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, globe-trotting playboy prince – obituary". The Telegraph. London. 18 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2020.

[14] "Lost: one Lion Emperor, last seen in the Isle of Dogs". The Independent. London. 26 January 1997. Retrieved 4 May 2020.

[15] Sharma, Madhusudan (2 June 2001). "Eton's royal connection". BBC News. Retrieved 30 May 2021.

[16] "Eton's royal connection". BBC News. 2 June 2001. Retrieved 4 May 2020.

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