Lord Carrington, the last Tory Foreign Secretary to quit until Boris Johnson resigned last night, died at the age on 99 yesterday, it was revealed today.

The peer served in every Conservative administration from Winston Churchill to Margaret Thatcher, before resigning on principle in 1982 after failing to anticipate the Argentine invasion of the Falklands.

Downing Street described his death as 'very sad news', while Theresa May's effective deputy David Lidington paid tribute to a 'career spent in public service'.

Until Boris Johnson left his post over Brexit last night, Lord Carrington was the last Foreign Secretary to quit his post while in power.

His decision 36 years ago, taken in the aftermath of the Argentine attack on the Falklands, is widely regarded as the most honourable resignation of modern times.

Thatcher tried to dissuade him from stepping down but he refused saying it had been his responsibility to protect the British overseas territory.

He married Iona McClean on 25 April 1942 and they had three children. Lady Carrington died in June 2009, aged 89.

Lord Carrington, pictured in Downing Street in 2011, has died at the age of 99 after an extraordinary career in politics going back to Winston Churchill's post-war government

Lord Carrington at home in Bledlow, Buckinghamshire, in 2013, where he lived until his death yesterday

His first Government post came in 1951 (pictured) when Winston Churchill made him a minister responsible for agriculture and food, pictured here admiring apples at fruit show in Marden, Kent.

he was married to Lady Iona Carrington (pictured together) from 1942 until 2009 when she died at the age of 89

A hereditary peer, Carrington served as an agriculture minister in Churchill's post-World War II government.

He went on told hold several of the top jobs in British government, including defense secretary and foreign secretary, until he quit.

But the Falklands resignation wasn't the end of his career.

He served as the 6th Secretary General of NATO between 1984 and 1988, and is credited with stopping a war between Greece and Turkey in 1987.

He had previously chaired the Lancaster House talks in 1979 which led to the establishment of the state of Zimbabwe, and later served as secretary general of Nato from 1984-88.

The Eton-educated hereditary peer was a tank commander in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War, winning the Military Cross in the North-Western Europe campaign.

Former PM David Cameron said: 'Peter Carrington was a lovely man and a great public servant.

'It was a huge honour having him to Chequers and listening to his stories of working with every Conservative leader from Winston Churchill onwards. Kindness and brilliance in equal measure; he'll be deeply missed.'

And Sir John Major said he felt 'immensely privileged' to have known Carrington.

'There are some of whom it is easy to say 'I was proud to have known him',' said Sir John. 'Peter Carrington was one such.

'In war and in peace, he served our country with courage, grace and distinction. He never fell beneath the dignity of his office, yet leavened public life with an irreverent wit that delighted all who worked with him.

'The country has lost one of its greatest post-war statesmen. I not only feel proud to have known him, I feel immensely privileged.'

Lord Carrington, pictured in 1964, when he was leader of the House of Lords and Minister without Portfolio in Alec Douglas-Home's cabinet

Under Mrs Thatcher, pictured together in 1979, he served as Foreign Secretary for three years until his 1982 resignation

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt recalled a youthful encounter with the 'kind and encouraging' Conservative peer.

'Very sad to hear of the death of Lord Carrington,' she said.

'First met him when he was Chancellor of Reading University and I was a student. He was kind, encouraging and generous with his advice.'

Mr Lidington, whose Aylesbury constituency in Buckinghamshire includes the Carrington family home at Bledlow, said on Twitter: 'Very sorry to learn of the death of my constituent Lord Carrington, former Defence and Foreign Secretary & last surviving member of Churchill's post-war govt.

'His career was given to public service. My deep sympathy to his family.'

Lord Carrington was born in Buckinghamshire on June 6 1919 as Peter Carington, with one ‘r’.

He was the only son of Rupert, the fifth Lord Carrington, and succeeded to his title in 1938.

Lord Carrington served with distinction during the Second World War. As a major in the Grenadier Guards, he was awarded the Military Cross for his role in the capture of a strategically vital bridge at Nijmegen, in the Netherlands.

With typical modesty, he excluded this from his autobiography.

When asked to elaborate in an interview with The Daily Telegraph he replied: ‘Good heavens no, it was all such a rough raffle. Pot luck.’

But he did speak fully and fondly about the liberation of Paris in August 1944. ‘That was very fun. I had with me Neville Berry, son of Lord Kemsley. I said to him: “What do we do when we get to Paris?” “Get some suites in the Ritz, of course,” he said. So we did. The German generals were going out through the back door. It was very comic.’

The war shaped his character and his political views. His ‘compassionate conservatism’ was forged through working with ordinary soldiers, as well as by an awareness of the suffering caused by the industrial turmoil of the 1930s.

He said: 'I remember serving alongside men in my tank during the war, and hearing their thoughts.

‘These were young men who had joined up in the hope of getting a square meal. Most had been unemployed before the war. In my squadron, not one single man voted Conservative in 1945.’

But he went on to be a successful NATO Secretary General, pictured with Ronald Reagan in 1984 at the White House

His career in government began one Saturday in 1951 shortly after the Conservatives had won the general election.

Half way through a day shooting partridges, he received a message from Number 10 asking him to call. When he did, he heard Churchill’s voice.

The message was delivered in no uncertain terms: ‘You’ve been shooting partridges? Would you like to join my shoot?’.

He signed up as a parliamentary secretary to the Department of Agriculture, a post he held until October 1954 when he joined the Ministry of Defence.

Lord Carrington called Thatcher ‘remarkable’ but added, ‘nobody can say Margaret was compassionate’.

His death on Monday came on the same day as the resignations of Boris Johnson and David Davis - the first time two Cabinet ministers had quit within 24 hours of each other since he and Humphrey Atkins resigned in 1982.