{{Short description|British Army general (1954–2023)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = Major General | name = Sir Sebastian Roberts | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCVO|OBE}} | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | nickname = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1954|01|07}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2023|03|09|1954|01|07}} | death_place = | burial_place = | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = British Army | service_years = 1977–2010 | rank = Major General | service_number = 502909 | unit = Irish Guards | commands = London District<br/>Household Division<br/>1st Battalion Irish Guards | battles = Operation Banner | awards = Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order<br/>Officer of the Order of the British Empire | relations = | other_work = }} Major General '''Sir Sebastian John Lechmere Roberts''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|KCVO|OBE}} (7 January 1954 – 9 March 2023) was a senior British Army officer who served as the Senior Army Representative at the Royal College of Defence Studies.
==Military career== Educated at St Philip's School, Ampleforth College and Balliol College, Oxford, Roberts was commissioned into the Irish Guards in 1977.<ref name=wsn>[http://www.worldsecuritynetwork.com/_dsp/dsp_authorBio3.cfm?authID=559 Major General Sir Sebastian Roberts] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716221758/http://www.worldsecuritynetwork.com/_dsp/dsp_authorBio3.cfm?authID=559 |date=16 July 2011 }} World Security Network</ref> Roberts went on serve as commanding officer of the 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards in London and Northern Ireland.<ref name=wsn/> He was appointed Major-General commanding the Household Division and General Officer Commanding London District in 2003.<ref name=wsn/> He became the Senior Army Representative at the Royal College of Defence Studies in 2007,<ref name=wsn/> and retired in 2010.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=59355|supp=y|page=4054|date=9 March 2010}}</ref>
Roberts also served as Colonel of the Irish Guards from 2008 to 2011,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=58642|supp=y|page=4200|date=18 March 2008}}</ref> being succeeded by Prince William on 10 February 2011.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.royal.uk/prince-william-appointed-colonel-irish-guards|title=Prince William appointed as Colonel of the Irish Guards, 10 February 2011 |publisher=Buckingham Palace |accessdate=10 February 2011}}</ref>
Roberts was the author of ''Soldiering: The Military Covenant'' (1998).<ref name=wsn/>
==Personal life and death== Roberts was married to Elizabeth. He died on 9 March 2023, at the age of 69. He was survived by four children.<ref name="wsn" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Major-General Sir Sebastian Roberts, honorary Colonel of Irish Guards loved by brother officers for his irrepressible bonhomie – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2023/03/16/major-general-sir-sebastian-roberts-honorary-colonel-irish-guards/ |access-date=17 March 2023 |publisher=The Telegraph |date=16 March 2023}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=Sir Redmond Watt}} {{s-ttl|title=GOC London District|years=2003–2007}} {{s-aft|after=Sir William Cubitt}} {{s-hon}} {{s-bef|before=The Duke of Abercorn}} {{s-ttl|title=Colonel of the Irish Guards|years=2008–2011}} {{s-aft|after={{nowrap|HRH The Duke of Cambridge}}}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Sebastian}} Category:1954 births Category:2023 deaths Category:20th-century British Army personnel Category:British Army major generals Category:Academics of the Royal College of Defence Studies Category:21st-century British Army personnel Category:British military personnel of the Troubles (Northern Ireland) Category:People educated at Ampleforth College Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Category:Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Irish Guards officers