Major Alexander Henry Louis Hardinge, 2nd Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, (17 May 1894 – 29 May 1960) was Private Secretary to the Sovereign during the Abdication Crisis of Edward VIII and during most of the Second World War.
Contents
Background and earlier life
Hardinge was born in 1894, the son of Charles Hardinge (who was created Baron Hardinge of Penshurst in 1910 and served as Viceroy of India from 1910 to 1916).
Hardinge was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge.
He was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards and fought in the First World War and became a Lieutenant and received the Military Cross. He was Aide-de-Camp to the Viceroy of India (his father) between 1915 and 1916. In 1920, he became Assistant Private Secretary to George V and was promoted Captain. On 8 February 1921, he married Helen Gascoyne-Cecil (a daughter of Lord Edward Gascoyne-Cecil) and they had three children. In 1929 he was promoted Major.
Hardinge served as Assistant Private Secretary until George V's death in January 1936.