William Astor, 4th Viscount Astor

Annabel Jones

​

(m. 1976)​

The Right Honourable The Viscount Astor
Official portrait, 2025
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for National Heritage
In office 20 July 1994 –6 July 1995
Children	3
Parents	William Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor Sarah Norton
Relatives	See Astor family
Alma mater	Eton College
Occupation	Politician, businessman

William Waldorf Astor III, 4th Viscount Astor (born 27 December 1951) is an English businessman and politician who sits as a Conservative hereditary Lord Temporal in the House of Lords. He is a member of the Astor family, which is known for its prominence in business, society, and politics in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Biography

Astor was a Lord-in-waiting (a House of Lords whip) from 1990 to 1993. He was then made a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Social Security. In 1994, he moved to the Department of National Heritage where he served until leaving the government in 1995.

He was a member of the Founding Council of the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford. ^[1]

Viscount Astor is co-founder and former Chairman of Silvergate Media (now Sony Pictures Television Kids) and director of Networkers Plc (since 2007) and trustee of Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham.

Political positions

Astor was an early opponent of the HS2 high-speed rail project. ^[2]

Marriage and children

Astor married Annabel Lucy Veronica Jones (born 1948), daughter of Timothy Angus Jones and Patricia David Pandora Clifford on 14 January 1976. They have three children:

• Hon Flora Katherine Astor (born 7 June 1976). She is married to Theo Rycroft. They have three children: Nelson (born 2008), Pandora (born 2011) and Lydia (born 2016).
• Hon William Waldorf "Will" Astor IV (born 18 January 1979). He is married to Lohralee Stutz. They have four children: William Waldorf (born 2012), Allegra Annabel (born 2013), Conrad Charles (born 2016) and India Isabel (born 2017).
• Hon James Jacob "Jake" Astor (born 4 March 1981). He is married to Victoria L. Hargreaves. They have two children: Sibyl (born 2015) and Atalanta (born 2017).

The heir to the viscountcy is his elder son, Will. ^[3]

His wife Annabel's stepfather was his uncle Michael Langhorne Astor.

Viscountess Astor was previously married to Sir Reginald Sheffield, 8th Baronet by whom she is the mother of Samantha Cameron, wife of former Prime Minister David Cameron.

Arms

Coat of arms of William Astor, 4th Viscount Astor

Coronet A Coronet of a Viscount Crest From a Mount Vert a Falcon rising proper ensigned by three Mullets Gold Escutcheon Or, a falcon resting on a dexter hand couped at the wrist proper and gauntleted gules in chief two fleurs-de-lys of the last Supporters Dexter: a North American Indian; Sinister: a North American fur trapper; each habited accoutred and holding in the exterior hand a Rifle all proper Motto Ad Astra (To the stars)

References

1. "Founding Council | The Rothermere American Institute". Rothermere American Institute. Archived from the original on 17 November 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
2. Cohen, Nick (15 January 2012). "Viscount Astor, you really are a class apart | Nick Cohen". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 8 October 2019.
3. "Allegra Annabel Astor Birth Announcement". The Times . 21 August 2013. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013.

External links

• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Astor

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Waldorf Astor II	Viscount Astor 1966–present Member of the House of Lords (1972–1999)	Incumbent
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New office created by the House of Lords Act 1999	Elected hereditary peer to the House of Lords under the House of Lords Act 1999 1999–present	Incumbent