SIR COLIN COLE, who presided as England's supreme herald for 14 years until 1992, bore as his personal motto Deum Cole, Reginam Serva (Worship God, Revere the Queen). While his regal reverence was never in doubt, his occasional inability to meet vital royal deadlines caused a lack of rapport with the Queen.
No invitation was extended
to him or his heralds for the
marriage of the Prince of
Wales to Lady Diana Spencer in July 1981 because he was unable to find an important
file of precedents in time. When a patent for a Knight of the Garter was belatedly offered
for the Queen's signature, it
was returned with a note: ''Her Majesty prefers to sign these while the recipient is still alive.''
He did, however, host the Queen when she paid the College of Arms a royal visit in 1984 as part of the quincentenary celebrations of the college. Equally, he appeared annually as part of her retinue at the autumn opening of parliament.
His career path through England's fount of heraldry was marked by the colourfully historic names of the offices he held - Fitzalan Pursuivant of Arms Extraordinary, Portcullis Pursuivant, and Windsor Herald. After seven years as college registrar and librarian, he was appointed Garter in 1978. This office represents England's principal king of arms, a post not quite as senior nor as ancient as that of Scotland's Lord Lyon, though Garter claims imperial jurisdiction. The office of Garter was instituted by Henry V in 1415, while a Lyon was inaugurated in the rank of knight by King Robert Bruce in 1318.
Cole was well recognised in heraldic and chivalric circles in Scotland: he presented the St Andrew Lecture to the Heraldry Society of Scotland in Edinburgh in 1981 and was known to knights bachelor in Scotland through his being knight principal of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor to 1995. He enjoyed promoting and publicising heraldry, and in his early years was instrumental along with John Brooke-Little (latterly Norroy and Ulster King of Arms) in establishing The Heraldry Society (of England).
Following Pembroke College, Cambridge, and Brasenose College, Oxford, Alexander Colin Cole harboured early pretensions towards a civic career in the city. The Second World War interrupted these ambitions and he served as a captain in the Coldstream Guards. Pursuing a legal career, he was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1949.
Always possessed of an interest in heraldry, it proved little surprise that he aspired to being an officer of arms at the College of Arms. The opportunity occurred in 1954, when Manchester Corporation raised an action against Manchester Palace of Varieties for wrongful use of the city coat-of-arms. This led to the reforming of the High Court of Chivalry at the college, an organisation which had not met previously since 1737 (and has not met since). Cole represented the Palace of Varieties, and lost the case.
Newly appointed as Garter in 1978, one of his first duties was to make a success of the office of New Zealand Herald, created just months before his own appointment.
This he did, to the extent that, under his advice, the Queen established by Letters Patent of 1988, a separate heraldic authority for Canada with a new Chief Herald of Canada. One of the first steps by Robert Watt, Canada's new chief herald, was to take advice from both the English College, and Scotland's Lyon Office.
For his efforts, Cole came under criticism for what was seen as a diminution in the influence of the English heralds. The fact Canada has since successfully evolved its own system and tradition in Ottawa perhaps speaks volumes for
his foresight.
Bluff and forthright, Sir Colin was possessed of military bearing and manner, and was honorary colonel of 6/7 Battalion of the Queen's Regiment from 1981. He was a one-time sheriff of the City of London; a Freeman and Liveryman of the Scriveners', Basketmakers', and Painter Stainers' Companies; and president of the Royal Society of St George (1982-98). He was appointed MVO in 1977, CVO in 1979, KCVO in 1983, and KCB in 1992.
Heraldry apart, his interests included art, architecture, and archaeology, and he also had a justified reputation as a bon viveur, describing himself as ''a wine bibber''.
He and his wife, Valerie, are survived by four sons and
three daughters.
Sir Colin Cole KCB KCVO TD MA BCL FRSA FSA, Garter Principal King of Arms; born May 16, 1922, died February 18, 2001.
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