He was slapped across the face by a man in public, and was attacked by the majority of the press, with a minority, including the New Statesman and Ian Gilmour's The Spectator, agreeing with some of Grigg's ideas.

As a historian, his most notable work was an uncompleted four-volume biography of Prime Minister David Lloyd George; he had reached the end of the First World War in 1918 by the time of his death.

Edward Grigg was a Times journalist, Liberal, and later Conservative, MP, Governor of Kenya, and member of Winston Churchill's wartime government.

[3] From Eton, Grigg joined the British Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into his father's regiment, the Grenadier Guards, in 1943 during the Second World War (1939–1945).

With his father's death in December 1955, Grigg inherited the title of Baron Altrincham, which seemingly ended any hope of his being able to stand again as a candidate.

In 1997, he wrote that he was "entirely opposed to hereditary seats in Parliament" and added that at that time in 1963 he "felt honour-bound to disclaim, though it was a bore to have to change my name again".

As his father's health failed during the first few years of the 1950s, Grigg assumed most of the managerial and editorial duties of the renamed National and English Review.

By the time of his father's death in December 1955, Grigg had taken over the editorship formally, and began to edit the Review into a publication more reflective of his views.

[6] In 1956, Grigg attacked Anthony Eden's Conservative government for its handling of the Suez Crisis, and pressed for an immediate withdrawal of British forces from Port Said.

"[7] In an August 1957 article, "The Monarchy Today", Grigg argued his opinions on the young Queen Elizabeth II and her Court.

Those who care for the Monarchy as an institution should look beyond the hideous coloured photographs of a glamorous young woman in sparkling attire to the more testing realities of twenty years hence.

Many influential people, of varying political opinions, are able to combine a high regard for the Royal Family with a fundamental scepticism as to the viability of the institution.

'Crawfie', Sir Henry Marten, the London season, the racecourse, the grouse-moor, Canasta, and the occasional Royal tour – all this would not have been good enough for Queen Elizabeth I!

Continuing on with the theme of aristocracy, he wrote: "The present composition of the Court emphasizes the social lopsidedness to which the Monarchy is still prone.

Such people may be shrewd, broad-minded and thoroughly suitable for positions at Court, but the same is true of many who are not 'tweedy'; and the fact that the Queen's personal staff represents almost exclusively a single social type creates an unfortunate impression...

A truly classless and Commonwealth Court would not only bear eloquent witness to the transformed nature of the Monarchy, but would also give the Queen and her Family the advantage of daily contact with an interesting variety of personalities and points of view."

Grigg was critical of the Queen's style of public speaking, describing it as "frankly 'a pain in the neck'": Like her mother, she appears to be unable to string even a few sentences together without a written text – a defect which is particularly regrettable when she can be seen by her audience...

The personality conveyed by the utterances which are put into her mouth is that of a priggish schoolgirl, captain of the hockey team, a prefect, and a recent candidate for Confirmation.

It is not thus that she will be enabled to come into her own as an independent and distinctive character.Grigg's article was featured in the national press,[7] and caused an international furore in which he was criticised by, amongst others, Geoffrey Fisher, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

[9] Within the first two days of the controversy that followed its publication, Grigg was invited to discuss his article with Martin Charteris, the Queen's assistant private secretary.

A statement issued by the Council on 6 August stated: "We the elected representatives of the ratepayers of this Ancient Town of Altrincham present at this informal meeting most strongly deplore the article written by Lord Altrincham and wish to completely disassociate this borough from the comments and statements contained in that article.

At the same time we desire that it should be known by her Majesty the Queen that no town has a greater sense of loyalty and devotion to the Crown than the borough of Altrincham.

Grigg defended his article in front of Day, stating that he did not wish to apologise or retract what he had written, but saying that he did regret that anyone should have thought he was hostile to the Queen.

"[21] Looking back, Grigg was critical of 1950s royal coverage, citing what he called its "blandness and servility":[7] "I was rather worried by the general tone of comment, or the absence of comment really in regards to the monarchy – the way we were sort of drifting into a kind of Japanese Shintoism, at least it seemed to me, in which the monarchy was not so much loved as it should be and cherished, but worshipped in a kind of quasi-religious way.

[4] At that same time, in the late 1960s, Grigg turned his attention to the project that would occupy him for the remainder of his life: a multi-volume biography of the British prime minister David Lloyd George.

In all the volumes, Grigg showed a remarkable sympathy, and even affinity, for the "Welsh Wizard", despite the fact that their domestic personalities were very different.

Historian Robert Blake judged the result to be "a fascinating story and is told with panache, vigour, clarity and impartiality by a great biographer.

(a compendium of some of his writings on the Monarchy),[27] a biography of Nancy Astor;[28] Volume VI in the official history of The Times covering the Thomson proprietorship;[29] and The Victory that Never Was, in which he argued that the Western Allies prolonged the Second World War for a year by invading Europe in 1944 rather than 1943.

[30] Grigg married Patricia Campbell, who worked at National and English Review, on 3 December 1958 at St Mary Magdalene Church, Tormarton, Gloucestershire.

[33] The show’s historical consultant, Robert Lacey said, “I am very glad we’ve got this whole episode on Lord Altrincham, who is a well-known figure in England, and now will become so around the world.