Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle, from above
The Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle is in charge of Windsor Castle in England on behalf of the sovereign. The day-to-day operations are under the Superintendent , who is an officer of the Master of the Household's Department of the Royal Household .
The Constable receives no salary, but has a residence in the Castle. From 1833-1957, the office was mostly filled by a member of the Royal Family , but now it is held by a senior retired officer of the armed forces of the Crown . He is the representative of the Lord Chamberlain within the Castle. The Constable also has nominal charge of its garrison, including the Windsor Castle Guard of the Foot Guards of the Household Division , as well as of the Military Knights of Windsor . The posts of Constable and Governor have been joined since 1660. A special uniform is prescribed for the Constable and Governor (similar to the full dress uniform of a General officer, but with scarlet collar and cuffs on a blue tunic rather than vice versa);[ 1] alternatively (and more often than not) service uniform may be worn.
There was a Deputy Constable and Lieutenant-Governor from 1833 to 1989. From 1964, he was also Governor of the Military Knights of Windsor until the office was abolished in 1989. At one time there was also a separate Constable of the Round Tower. From 1928 to 1935 this was held jointly with the post of Deputy Constable .
The following is a list, as complete as can be compiled from sources at present available, of the castellans, keepers and constables of Windsor Castle:
List of Constables and Governors of Windsor Castle
Name
From
To
Notes
Walter FitzOther
1086
1100
William FitzWalter de Windsor (son)
1100
c.1153
Richard de Luci
1153
1179
Hugh de Puiset
1190
1190
Earl of Northumberland and Bishop of Durham
William de Longchamp
1191 (seized office)
1191
Bishop of Ely and Chancellor of England
William d'Aubigny, 2nd Earl of Arundel
1191
1191
William de Longchamp
1191 (again seized office)
1191
Bishop of Ely and Chancellor of England
Hubert Walter
1191
1193
Bishop of Salisbury then Archbishop of Canterbury
Hubert de Burgh
1200
1200
John FitzHugh
1201
1204
Robert de Vipont
1204
1205
John FitzHugh
1205
1216
Engelard de Cigogné
1216
1223
Stephen Langton
1223
1224
Archbishop of Canterbury
William de Rughedon
1224
1224
Osbert Giffard
1224
1224
Ralph Tirel
1224
1225
Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent
1226
1233
William de Millers
1228
Waleran Tyes
1231
Alan de Crepping
1231
Stephen de Segrave
1232
Henry de Passelewe
1233
Engelard de Cigogné
1234
Bernard of Savoy
1242
Pierre de Genève
1248
Maud de Lacy
1249
widow of Peter of Geneva
Aymon Thurumbert
1257
1261
John de Sancta Elena
1261
1263
Sir Giles de Argentine
1263
Drew de Barentyne
1264
Geoffrey de Langley
1264
John FitzJohn
1264
John of London
1266
Ebulo de Montibus
1266
Nicholas de Yattendon
1269
Hugh de Dyne
1269
Geoffrey de Pickford
1272
John of London
1298
Roger le Sauvage
1305
1308
Robert de Haustede
1308
Warin de Lisle
1309
1319
Oliver de Bordeaux
1319
Ralph de Camoys, 3rd Baron Camoys
1319
1326
Thomas de Huntercombe
1326
1327
Also known as de Hodeng of Eton and Burnham
John de Lisle
1327
Thomas Foxley
1328
1360
Also known as de Foxle; of Foxley Manor at Bray and Bramshill Castle
Richard de la Vache
1360
Thomas Cheyne of Drayton Beauchamp
1365
Helming Legatte
1369
Sir Simon de Burley
1377
Thomas Tyle
1389
Sir Peter Courtenay
1390
Sir Hugh Waterton
1405
Sir John Stanley
1408
1413
John Wintershull
1413
deputy constable
John Waterton
1414
1417
Master of the Horse
Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset
1438
1455
Admiral William Nevill jointly with John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners
1455
Neville: Baron Fauconberg and Earl of Kent
John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners jointly with his son Sir Humphrey Bourchier
1466
1471
John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners
1471
1474
Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford
1474
1477
Sir John Elrington
1483
1484
Thomas Windsor of Stanwell
1484
1485
Sir Thomas Bourchier
1485
Sir Thomas Bourchier jointly with Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney
1495
Sir Thomas Bourchier jointly with Henry Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Essex
1511
Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter
1525
1539
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
1559
KG
Charles Howard, 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham
1590
later 1st Earl of Nottingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
1624
1628
Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland
1628
1648
Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke and 2nd Earl of Montgomery
1648
Colonel John Venn
1648
1653
Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke
1653
1657
Colonel Sir John Lenthall
1657
1660
John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt
1660
1668
HRH Prince Rupert of the Rhine
1668
1682
Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk
1682
1701
George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland
1701
1716
Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham
1716
1723
Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle
1723
1730
Charles Beauclerk, 2nd Duke of St Albans
1730
1751
George Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu
1752
1790
James Brudenell, 5th Earl of Cardigan
1791
1811
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington
1812
1829
Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham
1829
1832
Major General George FitzClarence, 1st Earl of Munster
1833
1842
HRH Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex
1842
1843
HRH Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
1843
1861
The Prince Consort
Vice Admiral HSH Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
1867
1891
John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll
1892
1914
Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge
1914
1927
Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher
1928
1930
Major General Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone
4 Aug 1931
1957
Gazette Entry
vacant
1957
18 Jun 1964
Gazette Entry
Field Marshal William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim
18 Jun 1964
1970
Gazette Entry
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Charles Elworthy, Baron Elworthy
1971
11 Aug 1978
Gazette Entry
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Grandy
11 Aug 1978
9 Feb 1988
Gazette Entry Gazette Entry
Admiral Sir David John Hallifax
9 Feb 1988
1992
Gazette Entry
General Sir Patrick Palmer
1992
2000
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Johns
2000
2008
Surgeon Vice-Admiral Ian L. Jenkins
1 Feb 2008
19 Feb 2009
Died in post
Air Marshal Sir Ian Macfadyen
10 Aug 2009
2014
Court & Social
Admiral Sir James Perowne
2014
2022
Lieutenant General Philip Jones
2022
List of Deputy Constables and Lieutenant-Governors of Windsor Castle
Please note this list is incomplete.
References
^ "Army Dress Regulations part 12" (PDF) . What do they know? . Ministry of Defence. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2018 .
^ "Sir John Cowell". Obituaries. The Times . No. 34356. London. 30 August 1894. col E, p. 8.
^ London Gazette , issue no.27336, 23 July 1901
^ London Gazette , issue no.33346, 10 January 1928
^ London Gazette , issue no.34306, 20 July 1936
^ London Gazette , issue no.37019, 6 April 1945
^ London Gazette , issue no.39731, 3 March 1953
^ London Gazette , issue no.43098, 3 September 1963
^ London Gazette , issue no.39791, 4 September 1964
^ London Gazette , issue no.45868, 2 January 1973
Governors and constables in England and Wales
Governors Constables Captains