Nicholas Eden, 2nd Earl of Avon

He was the younger son of Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden and his first wife, Beatrice (née Beckett).

[2] Called up for National Service, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps, his father's former regiment, on 20 May 1950.

[7][8] He was awarded the Territorial Decoration (TD) in 1965[2] and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1970 New Year Honours for his military service.

[9] Having risen to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Green Jackets, Lord Avon served under Margaret Thatcher as British Parliamentary delegate to the North Atlantic Assembly from 1979,[2] a Lord-in-waiting from 1980 to 1983, as Under-Secretary of State for Energy from 1983 to 1984 and as Under-Secretary of State for the Environment from 1984 until his resignation because of ill health in March 1985, shortly before his death.

[10] Widely known to have been homosexual,[11] Lord Avon was unmarried and died from complications related to AIDS at the age of 54.