Sebastian Roberts
 Sebastian Roberts    (officer) | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 January 1954 |
| Died | 9 March 2023 (Age 69) |
| Alma mater | Ampleforth College, Balliol College (Oxford) |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Parents | • John Roberts (UK) • Nicola Macaskie |
| Member of | Bullingdon Club |
British army officer who was member of the Bullingdon Club. | |
Major General Sir Sebastian John Lechmere Roberts was a senior British Army officer who was the Senior Army Representative at the Royal College of Defence Studies. At Oxford, he was a member of the Bullingdon Club.
Military career
Educated at St Philip's School, Ampleforth College and Balliol College, Oxford, Roberts was commissioned into the Irish Guards in 1977.[1]
Roberts went on serve as commanding officer of the 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards in London and Northern Ireland.[1] He was appointed Major-General commanding the Household Division and General Officer Commanding London District in 2003.[1] He became the Senior Army Representative at the Royal College of Defence Studies in 2007,[1] and retired in 2010.[2][3]
In 1999, as a brigadier, he became the Army’s director of public relations in the Ministry of Defence, building relations with Fleet Street at a time of multiple wars in Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and elsewhere. A heart problem revealed in 2001 prevented further front line deployments[4]
By 2003 to was fit enough to become General Officer Commanding London District and Officer Commanding Household Division, occupying the Duke of Wellington's office overlooking Horse Guards.
He was credited with securing the independent survival of the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards during one of many infantry reorganisations. Though it was rumoured that senior members of the Royal family held strong opinions in favour of preserving their Household regiments, it took Roberts's powers of persuasion to bring MoD bureaucrats alongside.[4]
Roberts also was a Colonel of the Irish Guards from 2008 to 2011,[5] being succeeded by Prince William on 10 February 2011.[6]
Roberts was the author of Soldiering: The Military Covenant (1998).[1]
Personal life and death
Roberts was married to Elizabeth. He died on 9 March 2023, at the age of 69. He was survived by four children.[4][1]
References
- ↑ a b c d e f Major General Sir Sebastian Roberts Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. World Security Network
- ↑ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/59355/supplement/4054
- ↑ https://marinemegafauna.org/news/tribute-to-sir-sebastian-roberts
- ↑ a b c https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2023/03/16/major-general-sir-sebastian-roberts-honorary-colonel-irish-guards/
- ↑ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/58642/supplement/4200
- ↑ http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Pressreleases/2011/PrinceWilliamappointedasColoneloftheIrishGuards10F.aspx
