Richard Abel Smith

Colonel Richard Francis Abel Smith (11 October 1933 – 23 December 2004) was a British Army officer.

He was the son of Colonel Sir Henry Abel Smith (1900–1993) and Lady May Abel Smith (1906–1994). He was born at Kensington Palace in London, England. Richard was the second of three children and the only boy. He was 312th in the line of succession to the British Throne as a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria.

Abel Smith was educated at Eton College, Eton, Berkshire, England; the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Berkshire, England; and the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England.

He was commissioned into the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues). He was Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of Cyprus between 1957 and 1960. He was a military instructor between 1960 and 1963 at Sandhurst. He commanded the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry squadron of the Royal Yeomanry between 1967 and 1969. He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of Nottinghamshire between 1970 and 1991 and High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1978. He gained the rank of Honorary Colonel in 1979 in the service of the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry Regiment. He held the office of Vice Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire between 1991 and 1999.

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