Evgeny Lebedev
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain granted the son of the Russian billionaire and KGB veteran Alexander Lebedev Eugene the title of Baron of Siberia and Hampton. Thus, the businessman received a lifelong peerage and the right to sit in the House of Lords in the British Parliament. Reported by The London Gazette.
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, recommended him to receive a peerage. Lebedev became the first native of Russia to be awarded such a title.
Now the entrepreneur has to go through the procedure of being introduced to the House of Lords, although he is actually already a member of it. During the ceremony, a new member of the House, dressed in a robe, accompanied by two guarantors, introduces himself to other parliamentarians. After that, he swears allegiance to the monarch, thus gaining the right to participate in meetings.
Evgeny Lebedev is a British businessman, publisher and philanthropist of Russian origin. He owns Lebedev Holdings, which publishes The Independent and Evening Standard newspapers. Over the past 15 years, he has raised nearly £ 60 million in philanthropy, including hosting celebrity dinner parties. His father, Alexander Lebedev, served in the KGB in the 1980s, and is now in business.
