The Right Honourable
The Earl of Leicester
Official portrait, 2021
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
as an elected hereditary peer
23 June 2021 – present
Preceded byThe Lord Denham
Personal details
Born
Thomas Edward Coke

(1965-07-06) 6 July 1965
Epping, Essex, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Polly Maria Whately
​
(m. 1996)​
Children4
Parent(s)Edward Coke, 7th Earl of Leicester
Valeria Phyllis Potter
OccupationPolitician and peer

Thomas Edward Coke, 8th Earl of Leicester (born 6 July 1965), is the son of Edward Coke, 7th Earl of Leicester, and Valeria Phyllis Potter. He is the current Earl of Leicester. From 1994 to 2015, when he succeeded into the earldom, he was styled Viscount Coke.[1]

Education and career

Holkham Hall, Norfolk

Lord Leicester was educated at Beeston Hall School and Eton College.[1] Between 1979 and 1981, he was the Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth II.[2][3] He graduated from the University of Manchester with a Bachelor of Arts in the History of Art.[1] In 1987, he was commissioned into the Scots Guards.[1] Between 1991 and 1993, he served as Equerry to the Duke of Kent.[1] He now runs the family estate at Holkham Hall.[4] In 2021, he won a by-election to the House of Lords as a member of the Conservative Party, taking the oath on 20 July 2021.[5][6]

Marriage and family

Lord Leicester was married on 21 December 1996 to Polly Maria Whately (born 1967),[1] youngest daughter of the financier David Whately and his wife Belinda Bellville, of the designers Bellville Sassoon. Lady Leicester, through her mother, is a first cousin of the interior designer Cath Kidston.[7] She is a milliner by profession.

They have a son and three daughters together:[4][8]

  • Lady Hermione Belinda Coke (born 29 December 1998)
  • Lady Juno Carey Coke (born 21 October 2000)
  • Edward Horatio Coke, Viscount Coke (born 11 June 2003)
  • Lady Elizabeth Coke (born 7 January 2006)

Notes and sources

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 2, page 2287. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
  2. ↑ "No. 47734". The London Gazette. 2 January 1979. p. 71.
  3. ↑ "No. 48481". The London Gazette. 2 January 1981. p. 77.
  4. 1 2 "Holkham Hall: a modern-day Downton". The Guardian. 17 October 2014.
  5. ↑ "By-election". parliament.uk. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  6. ↑ "Oath taken on other days (elected hereditary) – House of Lords Business – UK Parliament". lordsbusiness.parliament.uk. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  7. ↑ Belinda Belville s gowns on display at Holkham Archived 3 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)


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