Colonel Lord William Cecil CVO GCStJ (2 November 1854 – 16 April 1943) was a British army officer and royal courtier.

[2] Cecil's military career began when he was commissioned as a supernumerary sub-lieutenant in the Northampton and Rutland Militia on 9 May 1874,[3] with subsequent promotion to lieutenant from the same date.

[7] During 1900 the battalion was stationed at Parkhurst barracks on the Isle of Wight, not far from Queen Victoria's residence Osborne House, where Cecil was a regular visitor.

[citation needed] He resigned his commission on 13 September 1902, retaining his rank,[10] when his younger brother Lord John succeeded in command of the battalion.

[23] Through his fourth and youngest son, he was the grandfather of Rear Admiral Sir Oswald Nigel Amherst Cecil (born 1925), the 23rd Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man.