Philip Sidney, 2nd Viscount De L'Isle explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Viscount De L'Isle
Office1:Lord Lieutenant of Kent
Monarch1:Elizabeth II
Term Start1:1 September 2011
Predecessor1:Allan Willett
Term End1:21 April 2020
Successor1:Annabel Campbell, Baroness Colgrain
Office2:Member of the House of Lords
Status2:Lord Temporal
Term Label2:as a hereditary peer
Term Start2:5 April 1991
Term End2:11 November 1999
Predecessor2:The 1st Viscount De L'Isle
Successor2:Seat abolished
Birth Date:21 April 1945
Children:2
Parents:William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle
Jacqueline Vereker
Alma Mater:Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Allegiance:United Kingdom
Branch:British Army
Serviceyears:1966–1979
Rank:Major
Unit:Rifle Brigade
Grenadier Guards
Battles:The Troubles

Philip John Algernon Sidney, 2nd Viscount De L'Isle, (born 21 April 1945), is a British peer and former soldier.

Life and career

Lord De L'Isle is the only son of William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle, and his wife Jacqueline (née Vereker), a daughter of Field Marshal John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort. He was educated at Tabley House, Mons Officer Cadet School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. After service in the Rifle Brigade, in 1966, he became a major in the Grenadier Guards and took early retirement in 1979, having spent some of his service in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.

De L'Isle was appointed Vice-Lieutenant of Kent in 2002 and is also a Freeman of the City of London and a member of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. On 1 September 2011, he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Kent. He was appointed Commander of the Order of Saint John in 2012, and Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 2019 Birthday Honours.

Marriage and family

On 15 November 1980, De L'Isle married Isobel Tresyllian Compton, youngest daughter of civil servant Sir Edmund Compton. They have two children: Sophia Jacqueline Mary Sidney (born 1983) and Philip William Edmund Sidney (born 1985).

De L'Isle succeeded to his father's titles in 1991. The family seat is Penshurst Place in Kent.