William Peel, 3rd Earl Peel

Lord Peel is the eldest son of Arthur Peel, 2nd Earl Peel, and Kathleen McGrath, daughter of Michael McGrath. He is a great-great-grandson of Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel. He attended Ampleforth College, and then went on to the University of Tours in France and the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester.

Lord Peel was a member of the Prince's Council, part of the Duchy of Cornwall, from 1993 to 2006, and Lord Warden of the Stannaries from 1994 to 2006. He was a member of the Nature Conservancy Council, with English Nature, from 1991 to 1996. He was Chairman of the Game Conservancy Trust from 1994 to 2000, then President from 2000 to 2008, and was President of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust from 1989 to 1996. Lord Peel was also on the Yorkshire Dales National Park Committee for six years and became a Deputy Lieutenant of North Yorkshire in 1998. Lord Peel was elected as one of the 42 Conservative hereditary peers who were to remain in the House of Lords after the House of Lords Act 1999 came into force, he placed 14th in the election with 142 votes.[2] Since July 2006 he has sat as a Crossbench member.[3]

In June 2006 it was announced that Lord Peel would succeed Lord Luce as Lord Chamberlain. On 11 October 2006, he kissed hands with The Queen upon his appointment and was invested as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO), and became Chancellor of the Order. On 14 November 2006, Lord Peel was sworn in as a Member of the Privy Council.

In February 2021 Lord Parker of Minsmere was appointed to succeed Lord Peel. Peel was due to retire at the end of 2020 but extended his notice period as his successor was searched for amid the pandemic.[4]

Lord Peel married Veronica Naomi Livingston Timpson (born 21 January 1950). They had two children, Ashton Robert Gerard Peel, Viscount Clanfield (born 16 September 1976), and Lady Iona Joy Julia Peel (born 18 September 1978). The marriage was dissolved in 1987.

He married, secondly, the Honourable Charlotte Clementine Soames (born 18 July 1954), daughter of Lord Soames and his wife, Mary Churchill, daughter of Sir Winston Churchill, on 15 April 1989. They have one daughter, Lady Antonia Mary Catherine Peel (born 1991).

Lord Peel's son, Viscount Clanfield, married Matilda Rose Aykroyd (born 15 March 1978) in 2004. She is the third daughter and fourth (and youngest) child of second lieutenant of the Coldstream Guards David Peter Aykroyd (born 6 June 1937) and his wife Lydia Huldine Beamish (18 January 1939 – 9 July 2004). Lord and Lady Clanfield have three daughters, Isla, Willa and Florence, and one son, Nicholas.

Lord Peel's daughter by his first wife, Lady Iona Peel, married Robert Alexander Edward Bowen on 14 May 2005. They have two sons, Max and Charlie, and a daughter, Amelia.

• The Lord Chamberlain - Royal Household official website
• Appointment of Lord Peel as Lord Chamberlain
• DodOnline Biography
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by William Peel, 3rd Earl Peel