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Reverted 1 edit by 2A00:23C4:54E4:B01:A0C3:FAE0:1C43:FB8E (talk): You'll need consensus for the mass changes, reverted, not an improvement

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{{Short description|British Army officer and Conservative politician}}
{{Redirect|Nicholas Eden|the musician|English Teacher}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[Major (United Kingdom)|Major]] [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = The Earl of Avon
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE|TD|DL}}
| image =
| office1 = [[Department of Environment (United Kingdom)|Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment]]
| primeminister1 = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| term_start1 = 11 September 1984
| term_end1 = 27 March 1985
| predecessor1 = ''new appointment''
| successor1 = [[Angela Rumbold]]
| office2 = [[Department of Energy (United Kingdom)|Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy]]
| primeminister2 = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| term_start2 = 6 January 1983
| term_end2 = 11 September 1984
| predecessor2 = [[David Mellor]]
| successor2 = [[David Hunt, Baron Hunt of Wirral|David Hunt]]
| office3 = [[Lord-in-waiting]] [[Government Whip]]
| primeminister3 = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| term_start3 = 22 September 1980
| term_end3 = 6 January 1983
| predecessor3 = [[Charles Stourton, 26th Baron Mowbray|The Lord Mowbray]]
| successor3 = [[Michael Lucas, 2nd Baron Lucas of Chilworth|The Lord Lucas of Chilworth]]
| office4 = [[Members of the House of Lords|Member of the House of Lords]] [[Lords Temporal|Lord Temporal]]
| term_start4 = 14 January 1977
| term_end4 = 17 August 1985 [[Hereditary Peerage]]
| predecessor4 = [[Anthony Eden|The 1st Earl of Avon]]
| successor4 = ''[[Earl of Avon|Earldom extinct]]''
| birth_name = Nicholas Eden
| birth_date = {{birth date|1930|10|03|df=yes}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|1985|08|17|1930|10|03|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[London]], England
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| parents = [[Anthony Eden|Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon]] [[Beatrice Beckett]]
}}
'''Nicholas Eden, 2nd Earl of Avon''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|OBE|TD|DL}} (3 October 1930 – 17 August 1985), styled '''Viscount Eden''' between 1961 and 1977, was a [[British Army]] officer and, later, a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] politician. He was the younger son of Prime Minister Sir [[Anthony Eden]] and his first wife, [[Beatrice Beckett|Beatrice]] (''née'' Beckett).

==Career==
Eden was educated at [[Ludgrove School]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Barber|first=Richard|title=The Story of Ludgrove}}</ref> and [[Eton College]].<ref name=debrett>{{cite book|editor-last=Mosley|editor-first=Charles |title=Debrett's Handbook 1982, Distinguished People in British Life|year=1982|publisher=Debrett's Peerage Limited|page=72|isbn=0-905649-38-9}}</ref>
Called up for National Service, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the [[King's Royal Rifle Corps]], his father's former regiment, on 20 May 1950.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=38978 |supp=y|page=3866|date=28 July 1950}}</ref> He transferred to a [[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] commission with effect from 6 August 1953, in the same rank (seniority from 20 May 1950), and was promoted to acting lieutenant from the same date (seniority from 17 January 1952).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=40663 |supp=y|page=7274|date=23 December 1955}}</ref> He served as ADC to the [[Governor General of Canada]] from 1952 to 1953.<ref name=debrett/> He was promoted to acting captain on 1 March 1956,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=40796 |supp=y|page=3298|date=1 June 1956}}</ref> to the substantive rank on 3 October 1957 (seniority from 1 March 1956),<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=41216 |supp=y|page=6399|date=1 November 1957}}</ref> to acting major on 1 November 1959 and to substantive major on 3 October 1964 (seniority from 1 November 1959.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=41858 |supp=y|page=6931|date=30 October 1959}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=43450 |supp=y|page=8287|date=29 September 1964}}</ref> He was awarded the [[Territorial Decoration]] (TD) in 1965<ref name=debrett/> and was appointed [[Order of the British Empire|Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)]] in the [[1970 New Year Honours]] for his military service. Regimentally within the Territorial Army he served from 1953 with [[Queen Victoria's Rifles]] and from 1961 to 1970 its successor the [[King's Royal Rifle Corps|Queen's Royal Rifles]].<ref name=debrett/> He was appointed an ADC (TAVR) to [[Elizabeth II|the Queen]] in 1978.<ref name=debrett/>

He was appointed a [[Deputy Lieutenant]] of the [[Greater London county]] in 1973 and Vice Chairman of the Greater London TAVR Association.<ref name=debrett/>

Eden succeeded to the earldom on the death of his father in 1977, his elder brother [[Pilot Officer]] Simon Gascoigne Eden having been [[killed in action]] in June 1945, while serving as a [[navigator]] with the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] in [[Burma]].<ref>[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2085328 Commonwealth War Graves Commission]</ref>

===Government service===
Having risen to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the [[Royal Green Jackets]], Lord Avon served under [[Margaret Thatcher]] as British Parliamentary delegate to the [[North Atlantic Assembly]] from 1979,<ref name=debrett/> a [[Lord-in-waiting]] from 1980 to 1983, as [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State|Under-Secretary of State for Energy]] from 1983 to 1984 and as [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State|Under-Secretary of State for the Environment]] from 1984 until his resignation because of ill health in March 1985, shortly before his death.<ref name="1985NYTObit">{{cite news |title=Nicholas Eden, Earl of Avon And Former Aide to Thatcher |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/21/world/nicholas-eden-earl-of-avon-and-former-aide-to-thatcher.html |accessdate=27 November 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=21 August 1985}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Widely known to have been homosexual,<ref name="statesman"/> Lord Avon was unmarried and died from complications related to [[AIDS]] at the age of 54.<ref name="1985NYTObit"/> The cause of death on the death certificate was stated as [[meningoencephalitis]] or "inflammation of the brain."<ref name="1985PapersReport">{{cite news |title=Papers Report Former Prime Minister's Son Died of AIDS |url=https://apnews.com/8ea8d26b72796b599b93ef523352049b |accessdate=27 November 2019 |work=[[Associated Press|AP NEWS]] |date=August 25, 1985}}</ref> Upon his death, his titles became extinct.<ref name=statesman>{{cite web |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200706250062 |title=Thatcher the gay icon |first=Brian |last=Coleman |date=2007-06-25 |accessdate=2007-06-29 |work=[[New Statesman]]|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605233754/http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/brian-coleman/2007/06/lady-thatcher-gay-tory |archivedate=2011-06-05}}</ref> At the time of his death, ''[[The News of the World]]'' identified a man "listed as authorizing cremation of Avon’s body as an antiques dealer who lived with Avon in [[Holland Park]]."<ref name="1985PapersReport"/>

The character of Peter Morton in the 1992 film ''[[Peter's Friends]]'' is said to have been partly inspired by Lord Avon.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/bioa3/avon01.html|title=Matt & Andrej Koymasky - Famous GLTB - Nicholas Eden Lord Avon}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/clarissa-eden-countess-of-avon-dies-aged-101-g0fhbnltw|title = Clarissa Eden, Countess of Avon, obituary}}</ref>

He was generous, giving numerous dinners catered by him even when in government. He had an interest in a restaurant "Nicks Diner" at one time.

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = Avon Achievement.png
|escutcheon = Gules on a chevron Argent between three garbs Or banded Vert as many escallops Sable
|supporters = On the dexter side a leopard guardant Or resting the sinister hind paw on a garb Or banded Vert and on the sinister side a like leopard resting the dexter hind paw on a similar garb.
|crest = A dexter arm in armour embowed couped at the shoulder Proper the hand grasping a Garb also Proper.
|orders = Order of the British Empire (not pictured)
|motto = Si Sit Prudentia (If There Be But Wisdom)}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-nicholas-eden | the Earl of Avon }}

{{S-start}}
{{S-off}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Charles Stourton, 26th Baron Mowbray|The Lord Mowbray]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Lord-in-waiting]]|years=1980 – 1983}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Michael Lucas, 2nd Baron Lucas of Chilworth|The Lord Lucas of Chilworth]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Moore, Baron Moore of Lower Marsh|John Moore]] [[David Mellor]] }}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Under-Secretary of State for Energy|Joint Under-Secretary of State for Energy]] with [[John Moore, Baron Moore of Lower Marsh|John Moore]] 1983 [[Giles Shaw]] 1983–1984|years=1983–1984 }}
{{s-aft|after=[[Giles Shaw]] [[David Hunt, Baron Hunt of Wirral|David Hunt]] }}
{{s-bef|before=[[Sir George Young, 6th Baronet|Sir George Young, Bt]] [[William Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill|Hon. William Waldegrave]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Under-Secretary of State for the Environment|Joint Under-Secretary of State for the Environment]] with [[Sir George Young, 6th Baronet|Sir George Young, Bt]] |years=1984–1985 }}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sir George Young, 6th Baronet|Sir George Young, Bt]] [[Angela Rumbold]] }}
{{S-reg|uk}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Anthony Eden]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Earl of Avon]]|years=1977–1985}}
{{S-non|reason=Extinct}}
{{s-end}}

{{Anthony Eden|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avon, Nicholas Eden, 2nd Earl Of}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:King's Royal Rifle Corps officers]]
[[Category:Queen Victoria's Rifles officers]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Politicians from London]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Children of prime ministers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting]]
[[Category:Earls of Avon]]
[[Category:LGBTQ peers]]
[[Category:English gay politicians]]
[[Category:AIDS-related deaths in England]]
[[Category:Gay military personnel]]
[[Category:British LGBTQ military personnel]]
[[Category:20th-century English LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:People educated at Ludgrove School]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants of Greater London]]

Nicholas Eden, 2nd Earl of Avon - Revision history

imported>Augmented Seventh: Reverted 1 edit by 2A00:23C4:54E4:B01:A0C3:FAE0:1C43:FB8E (talk): You'll need consensus for the mass changes, reverted, not an improvement