Up for auction the "7th Earl of Harewood" George Lascelles Hand Signed TLS dated 1955. This item is certified authentic by JG Autographs and comes
with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES-8289
George Henry Hubert Lascelles, 7th Earl
of Harewood, KBE, AM (7
February 1923 – 11 July 2011), styled The Hon. George Lascelles before
1929 and Viscount Lascelles between 1929 and 1947, was a
British music director and author. He served as director of the Royal Opera House (1951–53; 1969–72), chairman of the
board of the English National Opera (ENO)
(1986–95); managing director of the ENO (1972–85), managing director of
the English National Opera North (1978–81), governor of
the BBC (1985–87), and president of the British Board of Film Classification (1985–96). Harewood
was the elder son of the 6th Earl of
Harewood and Princess
Mary, Princess Royal, the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary. At his birth, he was 6th in the line of
succession; at his death, he was 46th. Lord Harewood was the eldest
nephew of both King Edward VIII and King George VI and was a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. He
succeeded to his father's earldom on 24 May 1947. George Lascelles was born at
his parents' London home of Chesterfield House on
7 February 1923, the first child of Henry
Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles, and Princess
Mary, Viscountess Lascelles, and first grandchild of King George V and Queen Mary, who stood as sponsors at his christening. The
christening took place on 25 March 1923 at St Mary's Church in the village
of Goldsborough,
near Knaresborough adjoining
the family home Goldsborough Hall. After
his grandfather's death in 1929, he was styled as Viscount Lascelles as his
father succeeded to the earldom. He served as a Page of Honour at the coronation of his uncle King George VI in May 1937. Lascelles succeeded his
father in 1947. On 7 February 1956, he took his seat in the House of Lords.
A
music enthusiast, Lord Harewood devoted most of his career to opera with
his Yorkshire heritage fostering his interest; in March 1949,
as a young single man, he had been among the audience at the Leeds Town Hall for a performance of operatic works by
the Yorkshire Symphony
Orchestra. By 1950, he had become patron of the orchestra's
concerts.[5][6] He served as editor of Opera magazine from 1950 to 1953. In February 1950,
it was reported that he had launched the magazine at a large party at the
London house of Richard Buckle with
many music-loving guests in attendance.[7] He was director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden from 1951 to 1953 and again
from 1969 to 1972. He served as chairman of the board of the English National Opera (ENO)
from 1986 to 1995; Managing Director of the ENO from 1972 to 1985 and was
Artistic Director of both the Edinburgh and Adelaide Festivals. From
1958 to 1974, he was General/Artistic Director of the Leeds Triennial Musical
Festival. He was Managing Director of the ENO offshoot English National Opera North from 1978 to 1981. Lord
Harewood served as a governor of the BBC from
1985 to 1987 and as the president of the British
Board of Film Classification from 1985 to 1996.
He
was the author or editor of three books, Kobbé's Complete Opera Book (ed.
1954, now The New Kobbé's Opera Book, edited with Antony Peattie, latest ed. 1997; and The New Pocket
Kobbé's Opera Book, edited with his step-son Michael Shmith, 2000),[9] The Tongs and the Bones (an
autobiography, 1981), and Kobbé's Illustrated Opera Book (ed.
1989). He was chairman of Historic Masters, an unusual vinyl record label dedicated to
high quality issues of rare historic 78 rpm recordings of opera singers. He was a noted friend
and colleague of the late opera diva Maria Callas and is featured in the 1968 EMI documentary The
Callas Conversations Vol. I, during which he interviewed Callas at length
concerning her career and ideas about opera. His other interests included football: he served as president of Leeds United Football Club from 1961 until his death and
was president of the Football Association from
1963 to 1972. He died on 11 July 2011, aged 88.