an éminence grise

(formal)

someone who has a lot of power and influence but no official position Although he never became a minister, he was the party's éminence grise for 15 years.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Aranrhod	-	Welsh, Welsh Mythology
Nadzieja	nah-JAY-ah	Polish
Dario	DAHR-yo (Italian)	Italian, Croatian
Fulk	FULK	English (Archaic)
Juliya	YOO-lee-yah (Russian)	Russian, Ukrainian
Jean-Baptiste	-	French