17/10/2025
Today, we remember Field Marshal Charles Ronald Llewelyn Guthrie, Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank, GCB GCVO OBE DL KM KCSG GCJCO (17 November 1938 – 18 September 2025).
Field Marshal Lord Guthrie was commissioned into the Welsh Guards in 1959 following his training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he went on to serve with the Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment between 1966 and 1977 before returning to command 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.
He held the most senior positions in the British Armed Forces, serving as Chief of the General Staff from 1994 to 1997 and Chief of the Defence Staff from 1997 to 2001. He continued his service as Colonel Commandant of the SAS from 2001 to 2010, Colonel of The Life Guards 1998 to 2019, and served as Gold Stick in Waiting to HM Queen Elizabeth II from 1999 to 2019.
A Roman Catholic convert and Patron of the Catholic homeless charities Cardinal Hume Centre and Caritas Anchor House, Guthrie was a Knight of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, a Knight Grand Cross of Justice of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George, and was awarded the Cross pro Merito Melitensi of the Order of Malta.
A devoted husband to Lady Guthrie, Catherine who predeceased him in 2022, he is survived by their sons David and Andrew, and two grandchildren.
Requiescat in pace.