| Honorific Prefix: | Group Captain |
| Loel Guinness | |
| Office: | Member of Parliament for Bath |
| Term Start: | 1931 |
| Term End: | 1945 |
| Predecessor: | Hon. Charles Baillie-Hamilton |
| Successor: | Sir James Pitman |
| Birth Date: | 9 June 1906 |
| Death Place: | Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Death Cause: | Heart disease |
| Resting Place: | Cimetière du Bois de Vaux, Lausanne |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | 3, including Lindy, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava |
| Allegiance: | United Kingdom |
| Branch: | British Army Royal Auxiliary Air Force |
| Rank: | Group Captain |
| Commands: | No. 601 (County of London) Squadron |
| Battles: | Second World War |
| Mawards: | Officer of the Order of the British Empire Mentioned in Despatches (5) |
Group Captain Thomas Loel Evelyn Bulkeley Guinness, (9 June 1906 – 31 December 1988)[1] was a British Conservative politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath (1931–1945), business magnate and philanthropist. Guinness also financed the purchase of the Calypso, leasing her for one symbolic franc a year[2] to famous oceanic explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his movie The Silent World (1956).
Born in Manhattan and raised in the United States and England, Loel Guinness was the only son of Benjamin Seymour Guinness, an Irish lawyer from whom he inherited a fortune, and his first wife, Bridget Henrietta Frances Williams-Bulkeley.[1]
Loel Guinness had two sisters: Meraud Michelle Wemyss Guinness[3] and Tanis Eva Bulkeley Guinness.
He was educated at Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He gained the rank of lieutenant in the service of the Irish Guards.
After taking flying lessons, Guinness joined the Royal Aero Club in 1928.[4] The following year, he became one of the first private citizens in England to own an airplane and soon he was a member of the County of London's Auxiliary Air Force squadron. He later served as president of Air Work Ltd., an aircraft-parts supplier, and of British United Airways.
In 1931, on his third try, Guinness was elected to Parliament for Bath[5] and was named parliamentary private secretary to Sir Philip Sassoon, the Under Secretary for Air from 1931 to 1935. He held his seat until 1945, when he stood down.
Guinness gained the rank of group captain in the service of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, Guinness went on active duty with the Royal Air Force. In 1940 he flew as a fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain, famously buying a petrol station near his aerodrome when his driving was restricted by rationing. In 1944 he became commander of a wing of the Second Tactical Air Force and by the war's end he had been Mentioned in Despatches five times. He was invested as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1942. The Netherlands made him a Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau and France made him an Officer of the Legion of Honour and awarded him a Croix de Guerre.
Guinness's first marriage was to Joan Barbara Yarde-Buller (1908–1997).[6] [7] Before their divorce, Loel and Joan had a son, Patrick Benjamin Guinness,[8] who was killed in an automobile accident near Rarogne, Switzerland.[9]
Joan left him for Prince Aly Khan, the eldest son of the Aga Khan III, the 43rd Shia Imam, and Guinness successfully sued Joan and Khan on grounds of adultery. Joan and Khan did not defend the charges and the judge, Mr Justice Bucknill, granted Guinness a decree nisi and full custody of their son and ordered Khan to pay court costs.[10] Joan married Khan on 18 May 1936, a few days after the divorce became absolute.[11] [12] [13]
In 1936, he married his second wife, Lady Isabel Violet Kathleen Manners (1918–2008),[14] [15] who was prominent in society at Palm Beach.[16] [17] Together, they were the parents of a son William Loel Seymour Guinness and a daughter Serena Belinda Rosemary "Lindy" Guinness.
In a reversal of the outcome of his first marriage, in 1951, Lady Isabel was granted a divorce after accusing him of adultery, which he did not contest.[18]
On 7 April 1951,[19] he married his third wife, the socialite Gloria Rubio y Alatorre (1913–1980).[20] [21] Her daughter, Dolores married his eldest son, Patrick Benjamin Guinness (1931–1965).[22]
On 31 December 1988, Guinness died of heart disease at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, United States.[23] He was buried with the remains of his third wife at the Bois-de-Vaux Cemetery, Lausanne.
His granddaughter was Victoria Christina Guinness (born 1960).