Officers of the University
Information about the Officers of the University of Surrey.
Chancellor
HRH The Duke of Kent KG GCMG GCVO ADC
The Duke of Kent has been Chancellor of the University of Surrey since June 1976.
He is the son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George V, and Princess Marina, daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece. He is first cousin to both The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. He inherited his title following the early death of his father in 1942.
The Duke was educated at Eton and later Le Rosey in Switzerland. After school he joined the British Army and was commissioned in 1955 as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Scots Greys. He then served with his regiment at home and overseas in a military career that spanned 21 years. The Duke retired from the Army in 1976 with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was subsequently promoted to Field Marshal in June 1993. He retains close links to the Army and holds a number of senior regimental appointments.
The Duke is a Personal Aide-de-Camp to The Queen. He has travelled widely and represented The Queen on important occasions such as the independence celebrations in Sierra Leone, Uganda, Guyana and The Gambia.
One of The Duke's major public roles for many years was Vice-Chairman of British Trade International (now known as UK Trade and Investment), a position he held from 1976. He retired from this role in 2001, but still retains an interest in British business at home and overseas.
The Duke continues to undertake a large number of official Royal engagements. He has close associations with many charities, professional bodies and other organisations including being President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the Scout Association, and the All England Tennis Club. He is also Chancellor of Surrey University and Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England.