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British banker Evelyn de Rothschild, who expanded the family bank and advised the late Queen Elizabeth II on financial matters, has died aged 91.

“Sir Evelyn died peacefully [on Monday] at his home in London after a short illness,” said a family spokesperson on Tuesday.

The businessman, who trained race horses, dedicated 42 years of his career to his family’s bank. He chaired Rothschilds Continuation Holdings, the overall group, from 1982 until 2003.

In 1968, he was appointed a director of de Rothschild Frères, the French bank, and eight years later became chair and chief executive of London-based NM Rothschild, the international investment bank, until 2003, when he oversaw the merger of the family’s French and UK branches.

NM Rothschild, now the UK arm of Rothschild & Co, increased its total assets from £40mn to £4.6bn during his tenure, a statement said on Tuesday. He expanded the number of offices worldwide to more than 50, from 15.

He focused after his retirement on philanthropy and EL Rothschild, the family investment company, with his wife Lynn Forester de Rothschild, who survives him.

Rothschild, who was knighted by the Queen for services to banking and finance in 1989, has held numerous jobs in the private and public sector.

A former chair of The Economist over 17 years, he created the Eranda Rothschild foundation to fund social welfare and medical research. He chaired St Mary’s Hospital medical school in London from 1977 to 1988.

He was born in London in 1931 to Anthony de Rothschild and Yvonne Cahen d’Anvers of the Bischoffsheim banking family.