David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley

Lord Cholmondeley is a descendant of Sir Robert Walpole (1676–1745), the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. He is the son of Hugh Cholmondeley, 6th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and Lavinia, Marchioness of Cholmondeley (née Leslie).[1] He is also a descendant of both the Rothschild family and the Sassoon family through his paternal grandmother, Sybil Sassoon.[2] He has three older sisters: the Ladies Rose, Margot (married to Tony Huston), and Caroline (married to Baron Rodolphe d'Erlanger).

Like many members of his family, Cholmondeley was educated at Eton College.[3] He later took classes at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Houghton Hall, Norfolk

The family seats are Houghton Hall in Norfolk, and Cholmondeley Castle, which is surrounded by a 7,500-acre (3,000-hectare) estate near Malpas, Cheshire.[7]

According to the Sunday Times Rich List in 2008, Cholmondeley has an estimated net worth of approximately £60m, attributed primarily to his inherited landholdings.[8] Houghton Hall, ancestral home of the Marquesses of Cholmondeley since the establishment of the title in 1815, opens some of its rooms to the public.

In 1974, at the age of fourteen, Cholmondeley, then known as the Earl of Rocksavage, was appointed as a Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth II.[9] He relinquished this role upon reaching the age limit in 1976.[10]

One moiety of the ancient office of Lord Great Chamberlain is a Cholmondeley inheritance.[11] This hereditary honour came into the Cholmondeley family through the marriage of the first Marquess of Cholmondeley to Lady Georgiana Charlotte Bertie, daughter of General Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven.[12] The second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh holders of the marquessate have all held this office.

Cholmondeley began exercising the office of Lord Great Chamberlain in 1990.[13] He and his heirs will exercise it for the remainder of the present reign.[14]

Lord Cholmondeley married (Sarah) Rose Hanbury, a 25-year-old fashion model,[15] on 24 June 2009, their engagement having been announced the previous day. She is a daughter of Timothy Hanbury, a website designer, and Emma Hanbury (née Longman), a fashion designer. The landed gentry Hanbury family lived at Holfield Grange, Coggeshall, Essex.[16][17]

Her maternal grandmother is Lady Elizabeth Lambart, daughter of Field Marshal Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan; Lady Elizabeth was one of the bridesmaids at the 1947 wedding of Princess Elizabeth;[18] her paternal grandmother, Sara, was the daughter of racing driver Sir Tim Birkin, 3rd Baronet.[19]

Four-and-a-half months after their wedding, on 12 October 2009, the Marchioness gave birth to twin sons, Alexander Hugh George and Oliver Timothy George.[20][21] The elder son, Alexander, as heir apparent to the Marquessate, bears the courtesy title of Earl of Rocksavage; his brother is known as Lord Oliver Cholmondeley.

In March 2016, the Marquess and Marchioness had their third child, a daughter, Lady Iris Marina Aline Cholmondeley.[22]

A friendship between the Marquess and Marchioness and Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, has been reported; the Marchioness is a patron of the charity East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH), along with the Duchess.[23]

Lord Cholmondeley's coat of arms

• 27 June 1960 – 16 September 1968: Viscount Malpas[3]
• 16 September 1968 – 13 March 1990: Earl of Rocksavage[24]
• 13 March 1990 – present: The Most Honourable The Marquess of Cholmondeley[25]

As the eldest son of the heir apparent of the 5th Marquess, he was known from birth by the courtesy title of Viscount Malpas. Upon his grandfather's death, he became the heir to the marquessate and was thus known by the courtesy title of Earl of Rocksavage, before inheriting the marquessate in 1990. He also inherited the following subsidiary titles:[26]

• Baron Cholmondeley of Witch Malbank
• Baron Newburgh
• Earl of Cholmondeley
• Earl of Rocksavage
• Viscount Malpas

• In the Queen's Birthday Honours List for 2007, Lord Cholmondeley was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) for his 17 years of service as Lord Great Chamberlain.[27][28]
• He was awarded the UK Version of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.
• He was awarded the UK Version of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.[29]
• He serves as a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Norfolk. This gives him the post-nominal letters "DL" for life.

• Debrett, John; Kidd, Charles; Williamson, David (1990). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0333388471.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Marquess of Cholmondeley
• David Rocksavage at IMDb
• Houghton Hall
• Cholmondeley Castle
• Photos of Houghton Hall and Cholmondley Castle: As a special Millennium project, Garlinda Birkbeck was commissioned by the Marquis of Cholmondeley to photograph every house, building and person on his estates in Norfolk and Cheshire, capturing the world of his estates at the turn of the year 1999/2000.
• Mitchell Owens's interview with Lord Cholmondeley in The New York Times, 14 December 1997
• David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley