Nigel Kingscote

Kingscote was the son of Colonel Thomas Henry Kingscote, of Kingscote Park, Gloucestershire, by his first wife, Lady Isabella Anne Frances Somerset, a daughter of Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort. His mother died when he was less than one year old, shortly after the birth of her second child, a daughter. His brother, Thomas Kingscote, also joined the Royal Household.^{[citation needed]}

Kingscote was commissioned in to the Scots Fusilier Guards in 1846.^[2] He was Aide-de-Camp to his great-uncle, Lord Raglan, during the Crimean War, and later achieved the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Scots Fusiliers.^[3] He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Royal North Gloucestershire Militia (later 4th (Militia) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment) on 28 January 1862 and retained the position until the unit's disbandment in 1908.^[4][5][6][7]

Kingscote was Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire West between 1852 and 1885.^[8] He was appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire in 1856.^[9] The latter year he was appointed a Commissioner of Woods and Forests,^[10] a post he held until 1895. He was also a justice of the peace for Gloucestershire and Wiltshire and a Trustee of the manor of Horsley.^[11]

Kingscote was a Groom-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria between 1859 and 1866, when he resigned,^[12] and as an Extra Equerry to the Prince of Wales in 1867. He served as Superintendent of the Prince of Wales's stables until 1885,^[13] was appointed to the Council of the Prince of Wales in 1886,^[14] and as Receiver-General of the Duchy of Cornwall in 1888,^[15] Extra Equerry to Edward VII between 1901 and 1902 and Paymaster-General of the Royal Household between 1901^[16] and 1908.

He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1855, and a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1889. After the accession of King Edward VII, he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) in the 1902 Birthday Honours,^[17] and was invested with the insignia by the King at Buckingham Palace on 18 December 1902.^[18]

Kingscote was also involved in agricultural affairs and served as President of the Royal Agricultural Society in 1878.^{[citation needed]}

Kingscote was twice married.^{[citation needed]}

He married firstly the Hon Caroline Sophia Wyndham, daughter of George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield, in 1851. She died in childbirth on 19 March 1852 at Drove, Westhampnett in West Sussex: her newborn son died on the same day.^{[citation needed]}

Kingscote married secondly Lady Emily Marie Curzon, daughter of Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe, in 1856. Lady Emily was a fellow courtier, serving as Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Alexandra. They had two sons and two daughters:^[19][20]

• Nigel Richard Fitzhardinge Kingscote (14 February 1857 - 24 November 1921)
• Harriet Maude Isabella Kingscote (March 1860 - 14 March 1906), married Arthur Wilson and was the mother of Field Marshal Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson.
• Winifred Ida Kingscote (24 April 1862 - 25 October 1938), married George Cholmondeley, 4th Marquess of Cholmondeley on 16 July 1879 and was the mother of George Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley.
• Albert Edward Leicester Fitzhardinge Kingscote (13 May 1865 - ?)

Kingscote died in September 1908, aged 78. Lady Kingscote died in December 1910.^{[citation needed]}