Alec Hardinge, 2nd Baron Hardinge of Penshurst

Hardinge was born in 1894, the son of Charles Hardinge (who was created Baron Hardinge of Penshurst in 1910 and served as Viceroy of India from 1910 to 1916). He was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards and fought in the First World War and became a Lieutenant and received the Military Cross. In 1920, he became Assistant Private Secretary to George V and was promoted Captain. On 8 February 1921, he married Helen Gascoyne-Cecil (a daughter of Lord Edward Gascoyne-Cecil) and they had three children. In 1929 he was promoted Major.

Hardinge served as Assistant Private Secretary up until George V's death in 1936.

He was promoted to Private Secretary upon the accession of Edward VIII that same year, contributing to some delicate negotiations between the new king and the British government in the run up to the king's abdication in December 1936; he continued in this role under George VI until his early retirement in 1943. Significantly, as Brandi McCarry's commentary has pointed out, Hardinge's ultimate loyalty lay with the King in Parliament rather than personally with a monarch in conflict (and especially when the conflict was between the Sovereign and "his" Parliament). This was particularly reflected in Hardinge's warning letter to Edward, received on 13 November 1936, which showed evidence of prior consultation with Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, who, with his cabinet, had serious misgivings about the suitability of Mrs Wallis Simpson as the possible spouse of the monarch.[1] The precise nature and extent of his loyalty were thus constitutional—doing what he thought was right in his post as Private Secretary to the Sovereign.

Hardinge died in 1960 and his title was inherited by his son, George.

His wife Helen wrote his biography Loyal to Three Kings, William Kimber, London 1967.

• Hardinge of Penshurst, Baron (UK, 1910), genealogy
• Hardinge, Charles, first Baron Hardinge of Penshurst (1858–1944), diplomatist and viceroy of India