Iris Butler

Iris Mary Butler (15 June 1905 – 9 November 2002^[1]) was an English journalist and historian.

Butler was born in Simla, India, to Sir Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler and his wife Ann. Her brother was the Conservative politician Rab Butler.^[2] She wrote for the Eastern Daily Press and in 1967 published an account of the tempestuous relationship between Queen Anne, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough and Abigail Masham.^[2] In 1927, she married Gervas Portal but published works under her maiden name.

Iris Butler's grandson is Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who has served since 2013.^[3]

Works

• Rule of Three (1967).
• The Viceroy's Wife: Letters of Alice, Countess of Reading, from India 1921-1925 (1969).
• The Eldest Brother: the Marquess Wellesley 1760-1842 (1973).

Notes

1. "Iris Portal: Obituary". The Times. 12 November 2002. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
2. The Daily Telegraph, Iris Portal (22 November 2002).
3. "Welby's Maternal Grandmother"