Rex Announces 2026 Carnival Royalty

H. Merritt Lane III, a New Orleans businessman and civic leader, will reign as Rex 2026 on Tuesday, February 17, 2026. The 2026 Queen of Carnival is Miss Kelsey Grace French, a Texas Christian University student majoring in Finance. The Queen of Carnival and her court will greet Rex and enjoy the Rex parade from reviewing stands at the Josephine on Mardi Gras day. In the evening Rex and the Queen of Carnival will preside over the Rex Ball at the Sheraton Hotel.

Rex, King of Carnival, 2026 is H. Merritt Lane III

Merritt Lane is President and CEO of Canal Barge Company, a U.S. Flag marine transportation, management services, and bulk liquid storage company headquartered in New Orleans. He joined the company in 1986 and held several marketing and executive positions prior to his appointment as President in January 1994. Mr. Lane worked in the Corporate Finance Division at PaineWebber, Inc. in New York City from 1983 to 1986 in the Real Estate Finance Group.

Mr. Lane is actively involved in marine industry affairs, having served as Chairman of both national trade associations - the American Waterways Operators (AWO) the Waterways Council Inc. (WCI), as well as holding positions as a Board Member for the National Waterways Foundation, the U.S. Coast Guard Foundation, and the Blue Sky Maritime Coalition. He also serves on the Board of Pontchartrain Materials Company, a privately-owned company based in New Orleans, and Illinois Marine Towing, a wholly–owned subsidiary of Canal Barge Company based in Lemont, Illinois.

He has served on several publicly-traded company boards including past service on the Board of Directors of both Hibernia Homestead Bancorp, Inc. and International Shipholding Corporation. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Hancock Whitney Bank.

Mr. Lane graduated from Isidore Newman School, where he was a three-year football letterman and editor of the school newspaper. He then attended the University of Virginia and was accepted into the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in Finance in 1983. While at UVA, Mr. Lane was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and served as its President. He currently serves on the board of the McIntire School of Commerce Foundation and is an active alumnus of the school, periodically serving as a guest lecturer in McIntire classes.

Mr. Lane has been active in leadership positions with numerous civic, educational, and philanthropic organizations, having served on the Camp Merrie-Woode board, and as Board Chair of Isidore Newman School, The Idea Village (a New Orleans-area non-profit entrepreneurial development organization), the Baptist Community Ministries Foundation (one of the largest private foundations in Louisiana), and The Bureau of Governmental Research. He currently serves as Board Chair of The Water Institute of the Gulf; on the Executive Committees of both the Business Council of New Orleans & The River Region, as well as the National World War II Museum; and on the boards of The Nature Conservancy of Louisiana and Bricolage Academy. Mr. Lane is the Chairman of the Grants Committee of the Pro Bono Publico Foundation that was founded by Rex members in 2006 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and has contributed over $16 million to support New Orleans’ public schools and its students.

Mr. Lane has received numerous honors, including the Seaman’s Church Institute’s 2004 River Bell Award for outstanding commitment to the inland maritime community and as a 2009 Role Model of the Year from the Young Leadership Council. He is an inductee into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame, a past recipient of the United Way’s Leipziger Award for outstanding volunteerism, was selected as the Propeller Club Maritime Person of the Year in 2009, and was a recipient of Court Watch NOLA’s 2014 Lynne and Jerome Goldman Criminal Justice Reform Award. In 2016, he was honored with the National Rivers Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award. He was presented in 2021 with the Annual Rail & Maritime Summit Diolkos Award for outstanding leadership in the freight sector and, most recently, received the 2021 Boy Scouts of America Distinguished Citizen’s Award.

Mr. Lane is married to Eleanor Kohlmeyer Lane, known as “Elly.” They are the parents of Isabel “Izzy” Susan Lane, Sarah Eleanor Lane, and Caroline Emily Lane, all of whom are graduates of both Isidore Newman School and the University of Virginia. Izzy and Sarah are attending graduate school and live in New York City, and Caroline lives in London where she is a Senior Account Executive for a marketing agency. Mrs. Lane, an accomplished runner and equestrian, is a graduate of Newcomb College with a degree in art history. She served as President of the Garden Study Club, a founding board member of Youth Run NOLA, and as a member of the boards of New Orleans Museum of Art, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and Camp Merrie-Woode in Sapphire, North Carolina, where she was most recently the Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee. She is active in non-profit organizations such as Youth Run NOLA, Live Oak Wilderness Camp, the Youth Empowerment Project (“YEP”), and KID smART. She has chaired Kids Zoo-to-Do for Audubon Zoo, Edible Evening for Samuel L. Green School, O What a Night for Ogden Museum, The Big Idea for Idea Village, N’Spiration for Isidore Newman School, Odyssey Ball, and Art in Bloom for NOMA and the Garden Study Club of New Orleans. She also served as the Co-Chair of Camp Merrie-Woode’s centennial campaign.

As a family, the Lanes enjoy their times together in New Orleans; Kiln, Mississippi; Charlottesville, Virginia; Cashiers, North Carolina; New York City; and London, and have traveled extensively together throughout the U.S. and abroad. Mr. and Mrs. Lane have traveled to Cuba, Tanzania, Argentina, Antarctica, Denmark, and Norway with a close-knit group of UVA friends. Mr. Lane enjoys boating, fishing, and snow skiing. Mr. and Mrs. Lane are fitness enthusiasts who enjoy hiking, running, walking, and playing pickleball together. They are music and art lovers and frequently attend concerts and Broadway plays. Mr. Lane is a lifelong fan of The Beatles and the New Orleans Saints.

Mr. Lane’s family has a long history in the Rex Organization. His daughter, Sarah Eleanor Lane, reigned as Queen of Carnival in 2020. His grandfather, Joseph Merrick Jones, reigned as Rex, King of Carnival, in 1958. His great-great-aunt, Bessie Merrick, reigned as Queen of Carnival in 1901. Mr. Lane’s daughter, Caroline Emily Lane, served as a Maid in the Rex Court of 2017. Mr. Lane served as a Duke in the Rex Court of 1984.

The Queen of Carnival, 2026 is Kelsey Grace French

The 2025 Queen of Carnival, Miss Kelsey Grace French, is the daughter of Mr. William Darwin French and is the daughter and stepdaughter of Ms. Kara Van de Carr and Mr. Daryl Glynn Byrd.

Miss French graduated from the Isidore Newman School in 2023. She currently attends the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas where she is majoring in Finance.

At TCU, Miss French is an active member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and was elected the Director of Ceremonies and Rituals for the 2025-2026 school year, a fitting position for someone who values the preservation of culture and tradition.

At Newman, Miss French was a distance runner for the Track and Cross Country teams, competing in the two-mile and 1600-meter events in Track and the three-mile event in Cross Country. She helped both teams achieve second place in the state finals.

Her summer experiences have included studying at the American University in Paris and the London School of Economics. Last summer, she interned with the KBW investment banking firm in Manhattan, and she hopes to pursue a career in finance in New York upon graduation.

She has volunteered with Eden Centers for Hope and Healing, a non-profit organization founded by her mother in 2011 that is dedicated to providing emergency shelter, long-term shelter, and recovery services to hundreds of survivors of human trafficking. Additionally, she has volunteered at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, where she participated in the Cookies & Castles program setting up special fundraising activities. She also served as Co-President of the Camp Able Club in high school, helping organize special events and volunteer efforts for disabled children and adults.

In her free time, Miss French enjoys running and completed a half-marathon in December. Additionally, she loves baking delicious desserts to share with her friends and family, and if a career in finance does not work out, she hopes that one as a food critic just might. Miss French also has a passion for travel, valuing opportunities to explore new places and experience different cultures. As a baby, she spent several years in Kingston, Jamaica while her mother served as a diplomat at the U.S. Embassy.

Miss French’s family has strong ties and a deep commitment to the Rex Organization. Her father is a lieutenant and serves as co-host of the live Meeting of the Courts broadcast on WYES. Her brother, Ethan French, served as a Page in 2022. Both of her paternal grandparents served as monarchs, Flora F. French as the Queen of Carnival in 1959 and Ronald J. French as the King of Carnival in 2007. Her family’s history with the Rex Organization dates back to John G. Schriever, who was King of Carnival in 1889; and includes Matthew J. Sanders, who was King of Carnival in 1902; Charles E. Fenner, who was King of Carnival in 1941; and Darwin S. Fenner, who was King of Carnival in 1955 and served with distinction as Captain of the Organization.