David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley

David George Philip Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, KCVO (pronounced [ˈtʃʌmli]) (born 27 June 1960), an English nobleman and the current Lord Great Chamberlain of England, technically as a partial holder of that office.

Personal

Cholmondeley is a graduate of Eton College. He later took classes at the Sorbonne.

Lord Cholmondeley is unmarried.

Career

Position at court and in the House of Lords

Cholmondeley was a Page of Honour to Her Majesty The Queen at the age of 14. He began acting as the hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain to Her Majesty in 1990.

He is at the present time the only marquess in the House of Lords, following the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999. However, this may change-

• If another marquess be elected as one of the remaining 90 hereditary peers at a subsequent by-election
• If Lord Salisbury cancels his leave. He was Leader of the House of Lords 1994-1997 and as a result was created a life peer in 1998.
• If another is created a life peer. The most likely candidate for this is Lord Lothian, otherwise known as Michael Ancram.

Film

Cholmondeley directed the film adaptation of Truman Capote's novel Other Voices, Other Rooms, using the pseudonym David Rocksavage, derived from his former courtesy title Earl of Rocksavage, which he used before his accession to the marquessate in 1990. He had appeared in a bit part in a 1987 French film, 4 aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle, directed by Eric Rohmer.

In 2007 he directed the film "The Wreck" starring Jean Simmons and James Wilby, which was filmed in Norfolk. The producer was Nick O'Hagan and the executive producer was Ivan Mactaggart. It will be completed in 2007 and is scheduled for release in 2008.

Lands and estates

The wealth of the Cholmondeley family was greatly enhanced by the 5th Marquess's marriage to Sybil Sassoon, a member of the Sassoon family, a Jewish banking family with origins in Baghdad and India, and heiress to her brother Sir Philip Sassoon.

Cholmondeley maintains two great landed estates, Houghton Hall and Cholmondeley Castle.

He ranked 944th in The Sunday Times Rich List 2006 with an estimated wealth of £60m.

Awards and honors

In the Queen's Birthday Honours List for 2007, Cholmondeley was awarded a KCVO for his 17 years' service as Lord Great Chamberlain.

Sources

• Other Voices, Other Rooms

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