David Lascelles was educated at Westminster School and Bristol University, where he abandoned his drama degree halfway through for more practical experience of the film and television business.

But he always says the six months he spent in India between school and university was the most educational of his life. He worked as a film producer for more than 20 years, initially of documentaries, both broadcast and non-broadcast, then of drama for TV and the cinema. His credits include Inspector Morse, Moll Flanders and Second Sight for TV, and for the cinema The Wedding Gift (with Julie Walters and Jim Broadbent), The Wisdom of Crocodiles (with Jude Law) and the movie of Shakespeare’s Richard III starring Ian McKellen. Many of these productions received nominations and Inspector Morse won both a BAFTA and a Royal Television Society award for Best Drama Series under his watch.

David is deeply involved in Yorkshire’s cultural life. He chaired the Year of Photography in 1998 and sits or has sat on various boards, including that of Welcome to Yorkshire when they brought the Grand Départ of the Tour de France to the county in 2014. He chaired the 100 day Yorkshire Festival which lead up to the race itself and its follow-up two years later, bringing performers from all over the world to perform across the county. He is a patron of the Yorkshire Film Archive, Leeds West Indian Centre and Yorkshire County Cricket Club among others and in 2019 became Honorary President of Leeds United.

He was chairman of Harewood House Trust for many years. In 2007 he produced the late Geraldine Connor’s theatrical spectacular, Carnival Messiah (Handel’s Messiah performed Caribbean Carnival style), in the Grounds as part of the commemoration of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the British Empire. He was also executive producer of the film of the show, released in 2017. Since Geraldine’s death in 2011 he has helped establish a foundation in her name, to encourage young people from a range of backgrounds with a talent in the performing arts.

David’s other great love is for the Himalayas, where he has travelled extensively. He is chairman of the Orient Foundation for Culture & the Arts, who have worked for over 30 years to help preserve Tibetan culture. In 2004/5 he invited a group of monks from Bhutan to build a stupa at Harewood. His book about the experience, A Hare-Marked Moon, is published by Unbound and will be available in Spring 2021.

On the death of his father in the summer of 2011 he became the 8th Earl of Harewood.