Eric de Bellaigue, a financial analyst and author known for his literary scholarship, died on May 6, 2026, at the age of 95. Over the course of a long and varied career, de Bellaigue melded his professional expertise with a deep passion for literature, culminating in his late-life publication *Guarded Words*, a study of writings composed in confinement.

Born in Paris on March 12, 1931, de Bellaigue was the elder of twin sons of Vicomte Pierre de Bellaigue, a Free French navy officer during World War II, and Marie-Antoinette Willemin. In 1940, while holidaying in Belgium with her sons, Marie-Antoinette escaped the German invasion, becoming among the last wartime refugees to leave Calais. From 1942 to 1948, she taught French and European history to Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret in England, describing the future Queen Elizabeth II as naturally poised and marked by a strong sense of duty.

Eric’s twin brother, Geoffrey de Bellaigue, also entered royal service, ultimately serving as Surveyor of the Queen’s Works of Art and Director of the Royal Collection, and receiving a KCVO honor in 1986.

Despite childhood health challenges, including persistent sinusitis, Eric de Bellaigue excelled athletically and academically. He captained the boxing team at Wellington and later attended McGill University in Montreal, where he studied economics and political science and distinguished himself as a debater.

De Bellaigue began his career as a journalist with The Montreal Star before joining the Bank of Montreal’s economics department. He worked as an analyst for Greenshields stockbrokers in Canada for five years before returning to London, where he held financial analyst positions at Schroder Wagg (1962–66), Buckmaster & Moore (1966–78), Grenfell & Colegrave (1978–89), and finally as head of research at Panmure Gordon (1989–96).

His literary interests found expression in several publications. In 1981, he authored *The Business of Publishing: The Bellaigue Report*, followed by *British Book Publishing as a Business Since the 1960s* in 2004, published by the British Library. The latter examined the challenges faced by traditional publishers amid rising multimedia conglomerates. De Bellaigue also contributed articles to *The Bookseller* and the journal *Logos*.

His most notable literary work, *Guarded Words*, explored the writings created by authors during imprisonment. Among the figures he studied were Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Thomas More, Charles I, John Bunyan, Mirabeau, Voltaire, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. He paid particular attention to William Chester Minor, an American Civil War veteran whose mental deterioration led to his confinement at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum. Minor, who contributed some 12,000 quotations to the early Oxford English Dictionary, lived in a self-styled prison library during his incarceration.

De Bellaigue was married twice, first to Sylvia Rodney in 1962, with whom he had two sons before their divorce in 1985, and later to Nike Kent Taylor in 1986. Known for his engaging company and sharp wit, he remained intellectually active throughout his life, combining a professional financial career with literary scholarship and commentary.