Maj Gen Sir Christopher Airy, eminent Guards officer appointed Private Secretary to Prince Charles

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27-05-2025

Major General Sir Christopher Airy, who has died aged 91, had a distinguished career in the Army; after he retired, he accepted an invitation to become Private Secretary and Treasurer to Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
In 1974, after serving with the Grenadier Guards for 20 years, Airy transferred to the Scots Guards and assumed command of the 1st Battalion. Regiments are by their nature tribal, and a commanding officer from a different regiment is always going to be viewed with a certain amount of misgiving.
While never disavowing his pride at having been a Grenadier, Airy launched himself into his new assignment. Having swiftly absorbed the regimental history, he assembled the warrant officers in the sergeants' mess and asked them to help him become a Scots Guardsman.
He then summoned the Pipe Major and invited him to play a different company march each day in the Orderly Room until he recognised them all. With his natural charm and courtesy, Airy soon earned the loyalty and respect of his battalion.
He was a shrewd observer of individuals, and when necessary he could be tough with those who did not live up to his high standards of behaviour and performance. He ran a very successful and happy battalion and his wife, Judy, was a great support.
Christopher John Airy was born at the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital, Woolwich, on March 8 1934. His father, Lieutenant-Colonel Eustace Airy, served in the RAF in the 1920s, gaining his wings before transferring to the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment).
In the late 1930s he and his family were stationed in Gibraltar, and during the Second World War Eustace Airy was involved in intelligence work in the Far East. Soon after the outbreak of war, the family returned to England by ship. Young Christopher enjoyed going up on deck; he was fascinated by ripples on the surface of the sea which kept appearing, until it was explained to him that they were actually torpedoes.
Airy was educated at Marlborough and became fluent in French after attending a course at the Sorbonne in Paris. After RMA Sandhurst, in 1954 he was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards and was posted to the 3rd Battalion.
He was stationed at Windsor, and one day while he was on guard, he received a telephone call inviting him to join the Queen and the Royal family for dinner that evening in the Castle. There were about 20 guests present, and after the meal, they played charades; Airy was in a team with Princess Margaret. The Queen drew all the cards, and he had to mime Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, a rather daunting role under the circumstances for the 21-year-old.
After two years in Cyprus during the Eoka Emergency, followed by an appointment as military assistant to the Secretary of State for War, Jack Profumo, in 1970 he commanded the Queen's Company of the 1st Battalion during a period of increasing inter-communal strife in Northern Ireland.
He served as brigade major of 4th Guards Brigade in Munster, West Germany, before transferring to the Scots Guards. After relinquishing command of their 1st Battalion, he commanded 5 Field Force in Germany.
In 1982 he was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff of UK Land Forces and played a key part in the decision to deploy the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards and 1st Battalion Welsh Guards in 5 Air Portable Brigade for the conflict in the Falklands.
He was promoted to major general in 1983 and posted to the Royal College of Defence Studies. The appointments of Major General Commanding the Household Division and that of GOC London District followed.
One day, when he was taking the salute at the first rehearsal of the Queen's Birthday parade on Horse Guards, he invited his family to watch from his office immediately above the saluting base. His four-year-old grandson was so excited when he saw his grandfather appear beneath him on his horse and wearing his plumed hat, that he decided to sprinkle him with a colourful selection of canapés from the office window.
One of Airy's duties as GOC was to inspect the regiments under his command. On one such inspection with his ADC, they pulled into a lay-by a few minutes early so that he could put on his Sam Browne belt and emerge at the saluting base exactly on time and immaculately turned out.
On their arrival, the whole regiment was formed up on the square. A guardsman lent forward, opened the car door and saluted, but the great man did not appear. He was tethered to the back seat of the car by the entangled Sam Browne and the seatbelt.
Airy retired from the Army after 35 years' service, in 1989. The following year he was offered the job of chief executive of the British Heart Foundation. Out of a sense of duty, however, when he was invited by Prince Charles to be his Private Secretary, he accepted.
The Queen and Prince Charles knew him well from his time in command of the Household Division, and he got on well with Princess Diana. It was thought that what was needed was a man of Airy's integrity, background and experience to re-organise the administration of the office, ensure that it could manage the workload efficiently and see that there was a smooth flow of correspondence.
The Prince's interests and activities, however, were growing fast and the Princess was showing an increasing readiness for high-profile public engagements of her own. For Airy, it was a difficult time and he resigned after only a year. The Queen received him on his departure, a mark of her respect for him. He was one of the multitude that lined the route at her Coronation in 1953.
In 1995, Airy and his wife moved to a farmhouse near Wiveliscombe in Somerset, and lived there happily for the next 30 years. He raised funds for a number of charities including the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance, the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and the Society of Martha and Mary.
He was also chairman of the Not Forgotten Association for eight years. He cycled some 1,500 miles by himself along the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, and raised £50,000 for the Association. Holidays with young families, travel, parties and shared celebrations played a large part in their lives, as did a menagerie of dogs, cats, ponies, donkeys and some rather temperamental alpacas.
In retirement, he was a great supporter of the Scots Guards and regularly attended commemoration dinners and the Regimental Remembrance Sunday Service and Parade. He was appointed CBE in 1984 and KCVO in 1989.
A friend of the family wrote: 'I can think of nobody who so embodied the principles of honour, decency and respect for others in the unassuming way that Christopher Airy did.'
Christopher Airy married, in 1959, Judith (Judy) Stephenson. She predeceased him by three months to the day and he is survived by two daughters and a son.
Sir Christopher Airy, born March 8 1934, died April 8 2025
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