Edward Grey was born into a wealthy, aristocratic political family. His great-great-uncle was Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, prime minister from 1830 to 1834, who was responsible for the Great Reform Act (and for naming a wellknown variety of tea). It was natural that the young Edward Grey would be drawn into politics, despite a rather mixed career at Oxford — he spent much of his time playing real tennis, was at one point suspended for laziness and eventually achieved only a third-class degree. Grey was elected MP for Berwick in 1885, aged only 23 — such were the rewards of wealth and privilege in Victorian England.
Seven years later, he was invited by Gladstone, the great Liberal prime minister, to join his government as under-secretary of state for foreign affairs — a remarkable advance for a man still aged only 30. Incidentally, his real tennis career also flourished during this period — between 1889 and 1898, he was British champion five times and runnerup three times. It is hard to imagine anyone today excelling in sport at national level while working as a government minister.
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