Thomas van Straubenzee

Van Straubenzee is the son of Alexander van Straubenzee, the circulation manager at The Spectator, and Claire Fenwick, daughter of Anthony Fenwick, of Eaton Grange, Grantham, Lincolnshire. He is a grandson of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry van Straubenzee. The van Straubenzee family are members of the landed gentry of Spennithorne, North Yorkshire; originally from the Netherlands, their ancestor Philip William Casimir van Straubenzee was naturalised as British subject in 1759. They have a strong military tradition.[2] He attended Ludgrove School, where he was a schoolmate and close friend of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.[3] He later attended Harrow School.[4] He is the older brother of Charlie van Straubenzee. In 2002 another younger brother, Henry, was killed in a car accident. The funeral was attended by members of the British royal family.[5][6] In June 2005, Thomas accompanied Prince William on his royal tour to New Zealand.[7]

Van Straubenzee worked as a chartered surveyor with Strutt & Parker before co-founding VanHan with Rory Penn in 2012, a high-end residential and commercial real estate firm. His company was later acquired by Knight Frank.[8] In March 2018 he became the head of Knight Frank's Global Wealth Advisory team.[9]

Van Straubenzee is a patron of the Henry Van Straubenzee Memorial Fund, a charity founded in honour of his late younger brother.[10]

Van Straubenzee is one of the five godparents of Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, the second child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.[11][12][13]

Van Straubenzee married Lady Melissa Percy, daughter of the 12th Duke of Northumberland, at St Michael's Church, Alnwick on 22 June 2013.[14][15][16] They divorced in March 2016 on the grounds of Van Straubenzee's "unreasonable behavior".[17]