Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Peter Robin Harding, GCB (2 December 1933 – 19 August 2021) was a Royal Air Force officer who served as a bomber pilot in the 1950s, a helicopter squadron commander in the 1960s and a station commander in the 1970s.

[1] Promoted to flying officer on 10 September 1954,[6] Harding became a qualified flying instructor and flight commander at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in 1957,[1] before being promoted to flight lieutenant on 10 March 1958.

[1] He attended RAF Staff College in 1963 and was promoted to squadron leader on 1 July 1963.

[1] After attending the National Defence College at Latimer in 1969,[1] Harding became Director of Air Staff Briefing in 1971.

[14] He was promoted to air vice-marshal on 1 January 1979[15] and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1980 Birthday Honours.

[25] Promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force on 6 November 1992,[26] Harding became Chief of Defence Staff on 31 December 1992[27] but he resigned in March 1994 after it was revealed by Max Clifford and the News of the World that, aged 58, he had had an affair with the 32-year-old Bienvenida Pérez, the Spanish wife of Conservative MP Antony Buck.

[28][29] In addition to security concerns, and although Harding was a serving officer rather than a politician, the story was embarrassing to the government as it coincided with a string of "Back to Basics" scandals.