Ed Butler son of Sir Adam Butler MP and grandson of Conservative politician Richard Austen "Rab" Butler. Ed Butler Brigadier Edward Adam Butler CBE, DSO (born 27 February 1962) is a former British Army officer who commanded Task Force Helmand. Educated at Eton College and the University of Exeter, Butler was commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets in August 1984. He was mentioned in dispatches for his service in Northern Ireland in November 1991, received the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service for his service in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia in Autumn 1997 and received the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service again
Rab Butler was known to ask colleagues why he had been passed over and suggests that this caused a loss of confidence which prevented him from gaining the premiership in 1963. The media were taken by surprise by the choice, but Butler confessed in his memoirs that while there was a sizeable anti-Butler faction on the backbenches, there was no such anti-Macmillan faction. Butler spoke bitterly the next day about "our beloved Monarch". Butler attributed his defeat to Macmillan's "ambience" and "connections". He said "savage" things to Derek Marks of the "Daily Express", who protected Butler's reputation by not printing them and,