Harry Primrose, Lord Dalmeny

Harry Ronald Neil Primrose, Lord Dalmeny DL (born 20 November 1967), known as Harry Dalmeny, is a British aristocrat and the Chairman of Sotheby's in the United Kingdom. A member of the British aristocracy, he is the heir to ten noble titles, including the earldoms of Rosebery and Midlothian, to the Primrose family estate Dalmeny House, and to the chiefship of Clan Primrose.[2] Dalmeny is a Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Midlothian and is a member of the Royal Company of Archers. He is in a relationship with Norwegian shipping heiress Pontine Paus.

Lord Dalmeny
Born (1967-11-20) 20 November 1967[1]
EducationDragon School
Eton College
Trinity College, Cambridge
OccupationAuctioneer
Spouse(s)Caroline Daglish (1994–2014)
Partner(s)Pontine Paus
Children5
Parent(s)Neil, Earl of Rosebery
Deidre Reid

Early life and background
Dalmeny House in Scotland, the family seat of the earls of Rosebery

Harry Primrose was born in 1967, and is the son and heir of Neil Primrose, 7th Earl of Rosebery. He is a great-grandson of Prime Minister Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery and Hannah de Rothschild, the richest woman in Britain.[3] The earls of Rosebery own Dalmeny House and also owned Mentmore Towers until 1977.

He was educated at the Dragon School, Oxford and Eton College.[4] He then studied art history at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Career

Lord Dalmeny joined Sotheby's in 1990 to work in the Country House sale department. In 2000, he became Director of Sotheby's and from 2003 to 2007 was Chairman of Sotheby's Olympia. He also took on responsibility for the single-owner sales department in 2006 and became Deputy chairman, Sotheby's UK in 2007. He became Chairman of Sotheby's in 2017.[5]

As Sotheby's director of country house sales in the UK, Lord Dalmeny has been behind the rostrum and on top of the gavel for some of the most high-profile auctions in Europe, including the Duke of Devonshire's sale at Chatsworth House and the 2004 record sale at Hopetoun House of Jack Vettriano's painting The Singing Butler for £744,800.[6]

In 2013, Lord Dalmeny rode in the Queen's carriage at Royal Ascot.

In 2014 the Primrose family sold the painting Rome, From Mount Aventine by J. M. W. Turner for £30.3m to fund restoration work on Dalmeny House. The painting, regarded as one of Turner's finest, had been bought by the future Prime Minister Archibald Primrose in 1878.[7]

In 2019 Lord Dalmeny presided over the auction of Claude Monet's 1890 painting Meules for 110.7 million US dollars at Sotheby's New York, a record for an impressionist work.[8]

Personal life

In 1994, Lord Dalmeny married Caroline Daglish, a former Conservative Party researcher working for Robert Jones MP and Lord Strathclyde. She is a Patroness of the Royal Caledonian Ball.[9] They live between London and Scotland, where he has a house and farm in the Moffat Hills. They have five children: a son and heir, named Albert, and four daughters, three of whom are triplets.[1] They were reported to be divorcing in 2014.[3]

Lord Dalmeny is in a relationship with Norwegian designer and shipping heiress Pontine Paus, whose billionaire family owns Wilh. Wilhelmsen, one of the world's largest shipping companies. She was born in Greece to Norwegian parents and raised in London, where she still lives.[10]

Titles and styles

He is the heir to the following titles:

  • 8th Earl of Rosebery
  • 4th Earl of Midlothian
  • 8th Viscount of Rosebery
  • 8th Viscount of Inverkeithing
  • 4th Viscount Mentmore
  • 8th Lord Primrose and Dalmeny
  • 8th Lord Dalmeny and Primrose
  • 5th Baron Rosebery
  • 4th Baron Epsom
  • 12th Baronet Primrose of Carrington

Upon accession to these titles he will also be chief of Clan Primrose.

References
  1. "Rosebery, Earl of (S, 1703)". Cracroft's Peerage. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  2. http://www.tatler.com/the-tatler-list/d/harry-dalmeny
  3. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pound30m-turner-sold-to-pay-for-divorce-of-sothebys-chief-2980fnk2sq6
  4. Journal of St Andrews Society of Montreal Archived 7 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  5. https://www.artforum.com/news/sotheby-s-names-harry-dalmeny-as-uk-chairman-66394
  6. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704608504576208382313733962
  7. Aristocrats sell £20m Turner to save Dalmeny House
  8. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/arts/monet-auction-110-million.html A Monet Sells for $110.7 Million, an Auction High for an Impressionist Work], The New York Times
  9. "Patronesses". Royal Caledonian Ball. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  10. "Who has the real power?". Tatler. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
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