The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 13 letter word POETÂ LAUREATE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
P
O
E
T
Â
L
A
U
R
E
A
T
E
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Alfred, Lord Tennyson once" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case alfred, lord tennyson once = poet laureate.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.