John Astor, 3rd Baron Astor of Hever

John Jacob "Johnny" Astor VIII, 3rd Baron Astor of Hever, PC, DL (born 16 June 1946), is an English businessman and politician from the Astor family. He sat in the House of Lords as a Conservative hereditary peer from 1986 to his retirement in 2022. Astor was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence from 2010 to 2015. Astor is a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent.

The Right Honourable
The Lord Astor of Hever
PC DL
Lord Astor of Hever in 2019
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State For Defence
In office
11 May 2010 – 8 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byThe Lord Drayson
Succeeded byThe Earl Howe
Lord-in-waiting
Government Whip
In office
11 May 2010 – 5 September 2011
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byThe Lord Brett
Succeeded byThe Baroness Stowell of Beeston
Member of the House of Lords
as a hereditary peer
11 February 1986 – 11 November 1999
Preceded byThe 2nd Baron Astor of Hever
Succeeded bySeat abolished
as an elected hereditary peer
11 November 1999 – 22 July 2022[1]
Election1999
Preceded bySeat established
Succeeded byThe 8th Earl of Effingham
Personal details
Born (1946-06-16) 16 June 1946
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)Fiona Diana Lennox-Harvey
(m. 1970–1990; divorced)
Elizabeth Mackintosh
(m. 1990–present)
Children5
Parent(s)Gavin Astor, 2nd Baron Astor of Hever
Lady Irene Haig
RelativesSee Astor family
Residence(s)Westerham, Kent, England
Alma materEton College
OccupationBusinessman, politician

Family background
Further information: Livingston family

Astor was born 16 June 1946. He is the eldest of the five children of Gavin Astor, 2nd Baron Astor of Hever, and Lady Irene Haig. Astor succeeded to the peerage after his father died from cancer in June 1984. His younger siblings are Bridget, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Philip.

Education and military career

Astor was educated at Eton College before serving with the Life Guards (the senior regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry) from 1966 until 1970, where he visited Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Northern Ireland as well as ceremonial duties in London.

He worked in France for 11 years, and is now patron of the Conservatives in Paris.

Political career

In 1994, Lord Astor was a British Parliamentary Observer in Johannesburg during the South African General Election. He was a member of the Executive, Association of Conservative Peers from 1996 to 1998. In 1999 he was elected to continue as a member of the House of Lords. Astor retired from the House of Lords on 22 July 2022.[2]

From 1998 to 2001, he served as an Opposition Spokesman on Social Security and Health from 1998 to 2003. From 2001, he has been an Opposition Spokesman for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, and International Development, from 2003 to 2010, Opposition Spokesman for Defense, and from 2010 to 2011 a Lord in Waiting. From 2010 to 2015 he was parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Defence. He is currently the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Oman and Defence Secretary's Adviser for Military Co-operation with the Sultanate of Oman.

He is former Hon. Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Middle East Council. In 1995 he piloted through the House of Lords the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act and in 1996 the Trading Schemes Act.

Marriages and children

Astor married firstly Fiona Diana Lennox-Harvey, a daughter of Capt. Roger Harvey, on 1 July 1970.[3] They had three daughters together:[4]

  • Camilla Fiona Astor (born 8 May 1974) she married Dominic M. Trusted and they have one daughter:
    • Raya Trusted (March 2008)
  • Tania Jentie Astor (born 18 April 1978)
  • Violet Magdalene Astor (born 1980)

They were divorced in 1990 and in the same year Astor married Elizabeth Mackintosh, younger daughter of John Mackintosh, 2nd Viscount Mackintosh of Halifax. They have two children:

  • Charles Gavin John Astor (born 10 November 1990), who married Princess Eliane Marie Ghislain de Merode in June 2017. Their daughter, Astrid, was born in Sept. 2020. Their second daughter, Lilyrose, was born in March 2023.
  • Olivia Alexandra Elizabeth Astor (born 21 August 1992)

See also

References
  1. Retired under Section 1 of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014.
  2. "Retirement of One Member (Retirement List)". UK Parliament. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  3. "John J. Astor Weds Fiona Harvey". The New York Times. 19 July 1970. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  4. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition, 2 volumes. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999. p.308

Arms
Coat of arms of John Astor, 3rd Baron Astor of Hever
Coronet
A Coronet of a Baron
Crest
Rising from a Mount Vert a Falcon proper ensigned by three Mullets Or
Escutcheon
Argent eight Barrulets Sable over all resting on a Dexter Hand couped at the wrist proper gauntleted Gules a Falcon also Gules in chief two Fleurs de lys of the last
Supporters
Dexter: the figure of Aesculapius proper; Sinister: the figure of Mercury also proper
Motto
Ad Astra (To the stars)
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