Lily Brown
Lily Brown | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General Secretary of the Labour Party | |
| Assumed office 26 May 2020 | |
| Monarch | Alexandra |
| Leader | Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Jennie Formby |
| Member of Parliament for Streatham | |
| Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
| Majority | 29,011 (51.3%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lily Hedy Charles James William Brown 2 July 1994 Littlehampton, West Sussex, England |
| Nationality | British-American |
| Political party | Labour Party |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | Queen Alexandra (3rd cousin once removed) Prince Frederick, Duke of Clarence and Avondale & Princess Astrid of Sweden (Great-great grandparents) Prince Charles, Duke of Clarence and Avondale & Hedy Lamarr (Great grandparents) King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (3rd cousin twice removed) |
| Residence(s) | Streatham, London |
| Education | Bersted Green Primary School Millais Secondary School |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge (2012 - 2013) Columbia University (2013 - 2016) (LLB) |
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lily Hedy Charles James William Brown | ||
| Date of birth | 2 July 1994 | ||
| Place of birth | Littlehampton, West Sussex | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| 2010 - 2012 | Manchester City | ||
Lady Lily Hedy Charles James William Brown LG GCB (born 2 July 1994) is a British aristocrat, politician, and humanitarian. The eldest royal-born great grandchildren of the famed American actress, Hedy Lamarr, Brown is an ideologically centre-left member of the Labour Party currently serving as both the General Secretary of the Labour Party since May 2020, and Member of Parliament for Streatham since December 2019. Through a common ancestor, King George V, Brown is the third cousin once removed of the current Queen Alexandra. Additionally, ever since the constitutional reforms of King Charles III, Brown is expected to become the first female holder of her grandfather's ducal title in her own right.
The eldest out of five siblings of a minor British royal, Lord James William, and American surgeon, Samantha Brown, Brown first garnered public attention through her involvement in public charity and activism at the age of thirteen. Two years later, in the midst of her secondary school years, she began to transition more to a series of humanitarian-centered works, firstly revolving around disadvantaged children across England and Scotland, an effort primarily funded through the sizable wealth of her family. At the age of twenty, in a much publicised and controversial decision, she became an official member of the Labour Party, whilst being the very first member of the British royal family to do so. On December 12th 2019, she was elected Member of Parliament for Streatham, succeeding her Labour turned-Liberal Democrats predecessor, Chuka Umunna. Then, on May 26th 2020, she was decisively chosen as the new General Secretary of the Labour Party, thereby becoming the youngest officeholder of the position since fellow Labour politician, Matt Carter, whom was elected to the position at the age of thirty-one in December 2003.
In addition to her political career, Brown has also actively maintained her contribution in the field of humanitarianism, having participated in a number of UN-sponsored humanitarian missions to the African continent on several occasions, alongside those in her own personal capacity to other continents aswell. Furthermore, she is also a leading advocate for further research into eye-related treatments, having been diagnosed with amblyopia herself at the age of six.
Early Life
Lady Lily Brown was born on July 2nd 1994 as the eldest child of Lord James William, a British aristocrat, and Samantha Brown, an American surgeon from New York. She was baptised as Lily Hedy Charles James William Brown, with the names following that of her given name, respecitvely honouring the likes of her great grandparents, the famed American actress, Hedy Lamarr, and husband, Prince Charles, Duke of Clarence and Avondale. Also included in the list of names were the likes of her own parents, with her father's respective given name and surname, James William being included along with the surname of her own mother, thereby naming her Lily Brown in simple terms, whilst also breaking away from the tradition where her own father and grandfather had been given the name surname William themselves.
In the years surrounding her upbringing, Brown generally lived in one of her family's residences, particularly a modestly built bungalow at the town of Littlehampton in West Sussex county in South East England. Reportedly, despite the slightly sizable amount of wealth by her family in particular, Brown herself enjoyed a relatively normal upbringing, having somewhat preferred outdoor activities such as cycling on her personal bicycle, or swimming in general at the nearby beach, made easily accessable to the family due to its natural proximity to their residence. When not being outdoors herself, Brown also reportedly preferred playing a game of tag and hide-and-seek, first with her own parents, and later her own younger siblings when they had reached a suitable age for such activities themselves. Nevertheless, Brown was also described of having posessed a "keen and deep interest, particularly in the reading of fables". At the age of five, she was enrolled at the Bright Little Kiddies Preschool, where into a year at the school, she was first reported of having a "peculiar eye condition" by her teachers. Though this was initially dismissed out of disinterest, Brown was soon diagnosed with amblyopia, having underwent a brief medical checkup.
Educational Years
At the age of seven, having prior moved to London instead with the rest of her family, she was then enrolled at the Bersted Green Primary School. At the same time, following a recommendation from one of her medical doctors, she began wearing glasses on a normal basis, a practice which she later described as being "initially awkward and physically uncomfortable". Nevertheless, in addition to performing modestly on her academical lessons, Brown also enjoyed sports and reportedly preferred football the most, although on several instances, her interest in the sport were at times considerably challenged when she would then unexpectedly drop her glasses while playing the game. Regardless, as her glasses suffered no overall damages from said incidents, Brown continued to actively play football throughout her primary school years, during which she would often be placed in the position of a defender in her team. Additionally, despite her disability, Brown herself was said to had generally posessed good social skills with her classmates.
Upon completing her primary school, she then went on to further her secondary education at Millais School. While there, she generally maintained a modest record in regards to her academical lessons, whilst also furthering her interest in the game of football, marked by her successful entry into the Manchester City Elite Development Squad at the subsequent age of sixteen. Initially, due to her obvious eyesight disabilities, Brown was said to had been initially kept away from actively playing for a much lengthy amount of time, as a necessary guarantee against any risks of damages towards her glasses. However, just several weeks later, following a direct intervention by her own parents and her own personal insistence on being given more playtime herself, her wish was ultimately aceded to, thus reportedly allowing her to play for an average amount of roughly thirty minutes compared to the previous amount of fifteen minutes only. After a two years long career at the academy, she voluntarily left in order to pursue her college-level education.
Life in the United States
Having been initially enrolled at the prestigious Cambridge University due to both her aristocratic background and her own academical results, Brown, after only a year at the university, and by her own insistence, was able to secure a transfer to the Columbia University in New York, United States. This decision, as per an interview with Brown in January 2019, was primarily motivated by her desire to live "the American way", rather than her supposed feelings of discomfort at Cambridge, which she rather praised for its "general excellence and hospitality".
However, in line with this decision, as a result of her own parents' limitations in regards to accompanying her full-time in the United States, she instead chose to live with the family of her great uncle, Prince James, Duke of Wolfsburg, whose family had been living in the United States rather than in the United Kingdom. Regardless, upon subsequently enrolling at the Columbia University in New York, Brown took to living mostly in the university-provided campus instead of living at the royal residence of Wales House in the capital city of Albany, with the abrupt decision meant to make herself feel more independent and self-sufficient herself. Additionally, her decision was rationalised by the great distance between her university and the royal residence, which she found impractical to her university needs.
Upon publicly revealing her interest in pursuing a bachelor's degree in law, Brown, with funds generally provided to her by her own family members and relatives, also began to notably indulge in local charity-related activities. At tbe same time, due to her general aristocratic status, she was also hired to model for several local New York brands. Alongside this endeavor, Brown also began promoting extensive awareness on physical disabilities, with amblyopia in particular, a condition she herself wss diagnosed with, being a major theme in her occasional speeches or videos promoting awareness on said issues. In 2016, she graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Laws degree.
Political Career
Having been initially involved to a certain degree in humanitarianism, Brown began to presumably become active in politics whilst studying at her university. Initially an active, though unofficial member of the local Democratic Party, Brown later successfully applied to become an official party member of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom instead. The decision, upon being publicised by Brown herself, attracted both a sizable degree of interest and controversy from various scores of observers, with some praising her genuine involvement in electoral politics, while her detractors criticised her involvement in politics amidst her familial ties to the British royal family. Nevertheless, Brown subsequently expressed her interest in a "cohesive, and progressive-minded Labour Party", before subsequently meeting then Labour party leader, Jeremy Corbyn sometime on February 2014.
In the 2015 United Kingdom general election, Brown's first attempt in running for office fell rather short of success when she failed to unseat the longtime Conservative Party MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, Nick Gibb, in which she only acquired 9,720 votes as a Labour candidate. A year later, for the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, Brown voted in favour of 'Remain', before subsequently criticising then Prime Minister, David Cameron for a "reckless and impetuous act".
For the 2019 United Kingdom general election, she once more stood as a Labour candidate, this time for the Streatham consituency, which she won over the former Labour turned-Liberal Democrats MP, Chuka Umunna. In the subsequent year, she was decisively chosen as the new General Secretary of the Labour Party to replace Jennie Formby, an ally of former Labour party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, whom had prior resigned from his leadership position following the party's defeat in the recent general election. Having been chosen by thirty out of the thirty eight members of the National Executive Committee, she consequently became the youngest officeholder of the post at the age of twenty-six.
When the COVID pandemic began in the United Kingdom, Brown fiercely criticised Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the government's lacklustre response to the pandemic, later referring to the then substantially growing amount of cases at the time as an "example of bureaucratic failure". Nevertheless, she later praised the government for its pace in vaccine distribution, amidst a vaccine-related rift with the European Union.