Alan Brooke, 3rd Viscount Brookeborough

Alan Henry Brooke, 3rd Viscount Brookeborough, KG, KStJ, DL (born 30 June 1952) is a Northern Irish peer and landowner. He is one of the 92 hereditary peers who remain in the House of Lords; he sits as a crossbencher. He is the current Lord Lieutenant of Fermanagh.

The Viscount Brookeborough
Official portrait of Lord Brookeborough, 2019
Lord Lieutenant of Fermanagh
Assumed office
2 July 2012
Monarchs
Preceded byThe Earl Erne
Deputy Lieutenant of Fermanagh
In office
10 September 1987 – 2 July 2012
MonarchElizabeth II
High Sheriff of Fermanagh
In office
1995–1996
MonarchElizabeth II
Preceded byW. R. M. Farrell
Succeeded byPeter Moffitt Crawford
HM's Personal Lord-in-waiting
Assumed office
1997
Monarchs
Member of the House of Lords
as a hereditary peer
5 March 1987 – 11 November 1999
Preceded byThe 2nd Viscount Brookeborough
Succeeded bySeat abolished
as an elected hereditary peer
11 November 1999
Election1999
Preceded bySeat established
Personal details
Born (1952-06-30) 30 June 1952 (age 72)
Political partyCrossbench

Early life and career

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Lord Brookeborough was educated at Harrow School, Millfield and at the Royal Agricultural College (now Royal Agricultural University), Cirencester.

He joined the British Army in 1971, being commissioned into the 17th/21st Lancers. In 1977 he transferred to the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), which was to become the Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) in 1992. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1993, and became honorary colonel of the 4th/5th Battalion, Royal Irish Rangers, in 1997.

Marriage and family

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Lord Brookeborough (known to his family and friends as Alan Brooke or Alan Brookeborough) married Janet Elizabeth Cooke (daughter of J. P. Cooke, of Doagh), now Viscountess Brookeborough, in 1980. They farm the 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) Colebrooke Estate, just outside Brookeborough in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.[1] The centre of the estate is Colebrooke Park, an early 19th-century Neoclassical country house that is the ancestral seat of the Brooke family.

Lord Brookeborough has no children. His younger brother, The Hon Christopher Brooke (who has four sons and a daughter), is heir presumptive to the viscountcy. Lord Brookeborough intends to leave the Colebrooke Estate, including Colebrooke Park, to his nephew, his brother's eldest son and heir. He is third cousin to Queen Camilla, both descending from the 1st Baron Ashcombe.[2]

Field Marshal The 1st Viscount Alanbrooke (1883–1963) was also a member of the same family. Lord Alanbrooke was an uncle of the 1st Viscount Brookeborough.

Honours

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Brooke succeeded his father as Viscount Brookeborough in 1987. Although he lost his automatic right to a seat in the House of Lords, with all other hereditary peers after the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, Lord Brookeborough remained in the House as an elected crossbench hereditary peer.[3]

He has been a Lord-in-waiting to The Queen since 1997. He is President of the Co Fermanagh Unionist Association and was appointed an independent member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board in 2001.[4] Lord Brookeborough represented The Queen as Lord-in-Waiting at the arrival of U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in the United Kingdom on their state visit on 24 May 2011.[5]

  Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter (KG) 23 April 2018[6]
  Baronet (Bt) 7th Baronet Brooke of Colebrooke
  Knight of the Order of St John (KStJ) 26 June 2014[7]
  General Service Medal with clasp Northern Ireland
  Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal 6 February 2012
  Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal 6 February 2022
  King Charles III Coronation Medal 6 May 2023
  Accumulated Campaign Service Medal
  Sash of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (Mexico, 9 September 2015)[8]
  Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain, 12 July 2017)

Arms

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Coat of arms of Alan Brooke, 3rd Viscount Brookeborough
 
Coronet
Coronet of a Viscount
Crest
A Brock or Badger passant Argent.[citation needed]
Escutcheon
Or, a Cross engrailed per pale Gules and Sable differenced by a Crescent Sable, a canton of a baronet.
Supporters
Dexter: a Dolphin Sable.

Sinister: a Lion double-queued Gules, langued Azure.

Motto
GLORIA FINES (Glory to the end)[9]
Orders
Order of the Garter circlet (Appointed 23 April 2018)[10]

HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE (Shame on him who thinks evil of it)
Venerable Order of Saint John (Appointed KStJ 26 June 2014)[11]

Banner
  The banner of the Viscount's arms used as knight of the Garter depicted at St George's Chapel.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Brookeborough Bomb Search Continues (4ni.co.uk)
  2. ^ "Relationship Calculator: Genealogics".
  3. ^ "House of Lords biography". Archived from the original on 23 April 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  4. ^ Brookeborough pledges to represent Fermanagh on new Police Board, The Impartial Reporter, 27 September 2001 Archived 21 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ 'President Obama to get royal welcome on UK state visit, bbc.co.uk, 24 May 2001
  6. ^ "Appointments to the Order of the Garter". The Royal Family. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  7. ^ "No. 60915". The London Gazette. 26 June 2014. p. 12658.
  8. ^ "TRH THE PRINCE OF WALES AND THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL AWARDED WITH THE MEXICAN ORDER OF THE AZTEC EAGLE". Official website of the Mexican Embassy in the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Brookeborough (1952)". Cracroft's Peerage. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  10. ^ "Appointments to the Order of the Garter". The Royal Family. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  11. ^ "No. 60915". The London Gazette. 26 June 2014. p. 12658.
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Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Viscount Brookeborough
1987–present
Member of the House of Lords
(1987–1999)
Incumbent
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New office
Elected hereditary peer to the House of Lords
under the House of Lords Act 1999
1999–present
Incumbent
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Fermanagh
2012–present
Incumbent