Henry Peter Hansell was born in 1863 in Thorpe St. Andrew, Norfolk, England.

He was an English educator and tutor to the royal families' children. He was educated at Malvern and Magdalen College, Oxford University. He played football at Oxford, was a six-handicap golfer and a crack rifle shot. He served as an assistant master at Rossall School. He became a tutor to Prince Arthur of Connaught and Prince Nicolas of Rumania. It was the report of Hansell's character rather than his intellectual achievements which decided King George V's choice of Hansell to tutor his three eldest sons. He included excursions to churches, historical buildings, museums or galleries in order to give children a sense of the people and times which were the subjects of their lessons. Hansell also held several war appointments. From 1915 to 1917, he served as an A.B. in the R.N.V.R. Anti-Aircraft Corps, London, and was afterwards Deputy Assistant Director of Labour at G.H.Q. in France. In 1918, Hansell was appointed Staff Captain, Adjutant-General's Branch, in France, and subsequently Staff Captain, General Staff Training, France. In 1919, he was appointed Gentleman Usher to the King, and there was general regret in the Royal Household when he decided to relinquish it in 1928. Afterwards, he became an Extra Gentleman Usher.

He died on September 29, 1935, in Bletchingley, Surrey, England.