Sir Oliver Nicholas Millar (26 April 1923 – 10 May 2007) was a British art historian. He was an expert on 17th-century British painting, and a leading authority on Anthony van Dyck in particular. He served in the Royal Household for 41 years from 1947, becoming Surveyor of The Queen's Pictures in 1972. He was the first Director of the Royal Collection from 1987. He served in both offices until his retirement in 1988. Early and private life Millar was born in Standon in Hertfordshire. He was the elder son of Gerald Millar, MC and his wife Ruth. His paternal grandmother, Beatrix ("Trixie"), was the daughter of author George du Maurier and the sister of Gerald du Maurier (himself the father of Daphne du Maurier) and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (whose children with Arthur Llewelyn Davies were adopted by J.M. Barrie); she had married Charlie Millar in the 1880s. Millar was educated at Rugby School and the Courtauld Institute of Art at the University of London, graduating with an Academic Diploma in the History of Art. Among his teachers at the Courtauld was its director, Anthony Blunt. When Blunt succeeded Kenneth Clark as Surveyor of the King's Pictures in 1945, Millar asked him for a job. He became an Assistant Surveyor in 1947. He married Delia Dawnay in 1954. She was the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Cuthbert Dawnay, MC. They had three daughters and a son. His wife died in 2004. He died instantaneously of a heart attack whilst walking across St James's Square in London having come from an appointment at Christie's to look at a picture by Lely. Career in the Royal Household The Royal Collection is one of the largest and most important art collections in the world, held in trust by Queen Elizabeth II as Sovereign for her successors and the United Kingdom. The paintings comprise one of the best known and most significant elements of the Collection, hanging in royal palaces and other residences, including Windsor Castle, Hampton Court, Buckingham Palace and Sandringham House. After two years as an Assistant Surveyor, Millar was promoted to Deputy Surveyor in 1949 in place of Benedict Nicolson, who resigned to spend more time on another of his responsibilities, editing The Burlington Magazine. Millar was appointed MVO in 1953, and advanced to CVO in 1963. In addition to taking responsibility for much of the day-to-day administration of the Royal Collection,