Sir Nicholas Coleridge

Spear’s Review

Media and publishing giant Sir Nicholas Coleridge, who spent decades overseeing an empire of magazines at Condé Nast, returned to his alma mater in September 2024 to take up the post of provost of Eton College.

The appointment, which was formally approved by King Charles III, sees Sir Nicholas installed as head of the board of governors of the school, which was founded in 1440 and has educated 20 British prime ministers and the current Prince of Wales.

It comes against the backdrop of what has been called the ‘modernisation’ of Eton under headmaster Simon Henderson. Dubbed ‘Trendy Hendy’ by the tabloids, Henderson has been publicly criticised by some for pursuing a ‘woke’ agenda and has faced calls for his resignation over a number of decisions including the sacking of a ‘beak’ (teacher) who refused to remove a lecture on ‘The Patriarchy Paradox’ from his YouTube channel. The dispute was leapt upon by the press and framed by some as a battle for freedom of thought and expression. 

Sir Nicholas began his career as a journalist and was for 30 years successively editorial director, managing director, president and chair of Condé Nast International, the global publishing house whose stable of magazines includes Vogue, GQ and Tatler. Previously chair of the Victoria & Albert Museum, Coleridge is now chair of the Historic Royal Palaces and was co-chair of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant. He was knighted in 2022 for services to museums, publishing and the creative industries.

Educational experts are divided over exactly how much control Sir Nicholas will exert over Henderson and the day-to-day running of the school, but some signals suggest he will be more likely than his predecessor, Lord Waldegrave of North Hill, to be in favour of Eton retaining its historic character and traditions. 

Sir Nicholas, whose family has deep ties to the school, has spoken warmly of his time as a student and is reported to have said that he ‘prefers the company of Etonians to the company of people from any other school in the world’.