Biography
The Rt Hon. The Lord Carrington, KG, GCMG, CH, MC, PC was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.As a Major in the Grenadier Guards he earned the Military Cross in 1945. An active member of the House of Lords, he served as Parliamentary Secretary 1951-54 in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and 1954-56 in the Ministry of Defence. After periods as High Commissioner in Australia and First Lord of the Admiralty he entered the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio and Leader of the House of Lords 1963-64. In Mr Heath's government he was Secretary of State for Defence 1970-74 and briefly for Energy (1974). He returned to the Cabinet in 1979 as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs but resigned in 1982 in the Falklands crisis. Posts he has since occupied include those of Chairman of GEC; Secretary-General of NATO; Secretary for Foreign Correspondence, Royal Academy of Arts; Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Victoria and Albert Museum; President of the Pilgrims; Chairman of Christie's International plc; Chancellor of the order of St Michael and St George; and President of VSO. Lord Carrington was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters by Reading University in December 1989 and was installed as its sixth Chancellor in March 1992.