British Activities & Events

		London Investiture November
		Foreign Office Reception November
		Duke of Calabria Meets Parliamentarians
		Duke & Duchess of Calabria Become Patrons of The Passage
		Duke & Duchess of Calabria Meet Mr Speaker
		Duke & Duchess Visit Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster
		Diplomatic Appointments - Italy & Nepal
		Ealing Hospital Visit and Investiture
		Birmingham Visit
		Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone Dies October

Royal Visit & Investiture: London - November 2001.

The Duke and Duchess of Calabria visited Great Britain from 7-9 November 2001 and presided over the 2001 investiture of new knights and dames into the Sacred Military Constantinian Order and the Royal Order of Francis I(right). The ceremony was held at Westminster Cathedral in Central London(left).

HE The Lord Belhaven and Stenton, Delegate, Anthony Bailey, Delegate, and the Rt Rev George Stack, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, Prior of the British and Irish Delegation, attended. Over 150 other knights, dames and their guests were present including British and Irish parliamentarians and eleven Ambassadors, High Commissioners and diplomats accredited to the Court of St James's, Ireland and the Holy See. A Royal Gala dinner in aid of The Passage Homeless Centre followed.

The 2001 investiture witnessed the entry of a number of new knights and dames into the two dynastic orders.

Foreign Office Reception: London - November 2001.

The Duke and Duchess of Calabria and many knights, dames and their guests attended a reception at the Lucarno State Rooms at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, courtesy of the British Foreign Secretary, the Rt Hon Jack Straw, MP. During the reception Their Royal Highnesses and delegation members met British Foreign Office officials, the Lord Mayor of the City of Westminster and Baroness Scotland (left), Parliamentary Secretary of the Lord Chancellor.

The Duke of Calabria meets Conservative Leader and other Parliamentarians: London - November 2001.

The Duke and Duchess of Calabria paid a visit to the British Parliament and met the Rt Hon Iain Duncan-Smith, MP, Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition(left), as well as other Conservative, Labour and Liberal parliamentarians. Mr Duncan-Smith is the first Roman Catholic leader of the Conservative Party.

The Duke and Duchess of Calabria become patrons of The Passage Homeless Charity: London - November 2001.

The Duke and Duchess of Calabria were appointed as patrons of the delegation's adopted charity, The Passage Homeless Centre. Accompanied by many knights and dames, Their Royal Highnesses attended 'a night under the stars' Royal Gala Concert at St John's Church, Smith Square, Westminster.

This major charity event raised over UK£65,000 (€103,415) for The Passage. His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent(above), as principal Guest of Honour, offered his thanks to the Duke and Duchess of Calabria and the dynastic orders for their generous financial contribution and support to The Passage. HRH Princess Michael of Kent was invested as a Dame Grand Cross of Justice of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order on 23 April 1996.

The Duke and Duchess of Calabria meet Mr Speaker: London - November 2001.

The Duke and Duchess of Calabria called on the Rt Hon Michael Martin, MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, at Speaker's House at the Palace of Westminster(left). Mr Martin has been an active and long-standing member of the All-Party Italian Group. Lord and Lady Belhaven and Stenton, Anthony Bailey and the Rev Fr Michael Seed attended the meeting.

Mr Martin is the first Roman Catholic Speaker of the House of Commons since the Reformation. The last Roman Catholic Speaker was Saint Thomas Moore. A Jubilee medal was presented to Mr Speaker to mark the occasion.

The Duke and Duchess visit the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster: London - November 2001.

The Duke and Duchess of Calabria paid a courtesy visit on His Eminence Cormac, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster. The meeting took place at Archbishop's House(right) and was attended by Mgr James Curry, Private Secretary to His Eminence and Mgr Andrew Summersgill, General Secretary of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of England and Wales.

The Duke and Duchess outlined the activities of their worldwide confraternity and confirmed their desire for the dynastic orders to continue its charitable work throughout the British Isles.

Diplomatic Appointments: London - November 2001.

The Duke and Duchess of Calabria were guests of honour at a luncheon held at the Italian Residence by the Ambassador of the Italian Republic to the Court of St James's, His Excellency Signor Luigi Amaduzzi(left) and Signora Giovanna Amaduzzi.

His Excellency was invested into the Sacred Military Constantinian Order in 1998. Lord and Lady Belhaven and Stenton, Bishop George Stack and Anthony Bailey were among the guests.

Their Royal Highnesses later paid a courtesy call on the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Nepal, His Excellency Dr Singha Basnyat and his wife, Her Royal Highness Princess Jotshana Rajya Laxmi Devi Basnyat of Nepal(right), and offered condolences to them following the assassination of Their Majesties The King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family of Nepal.

The Duke and Duchess visit Ealing Hospital for special investiture: London - November 2001.

The Duke and Duchess of Calabria, Bishop George Stack and Anthony Bailey paid a visit to Ealing General Hospital in London (right) to invest Mrs Florence Riggs into the Sacred Military Constantinian Order as a Dame of Grace. Mrs Riggs, 95, is being recognised for her contribution over 70 years to the Catholic community in Great Britain and Ireland.

The investiture ceremony was held in the hospital chapel and Bishop George Stack blessed Mrs Riggs(left) before the Duke presented her with her insignia. The Duchess of Calabria offered congratulations to her immediate family. Their Royal Highnesses later toured the facilities of this major London hospital, visiting both staff and patients.

Royal Visit to Birmingham: November 2001.

The Duke and Duchess of Calabria paid their first visit to the City of Birmingham to invest His Grace Mgr Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Birmingham(left), to his newly promoted grade of Ecclesiastical Knight Grand Cross of Grace of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order. Their Royal Highnesses remained for lunch at which the Rt Rev Mgr Canon Adrian Arrowsmith, former Prior of the delegation, was present.

Their Royal Highnesses also paid a courtesy call on the Lord Mayor(right) and Lady Mayoress of the City of Birmingham at Council House. The Duke and Duchess concluded their programme in Birmingham by visiting the Birmingham Oratory as guests of the Provost, the Very Rev Paul Chavasse. The Oratory's historic rooms house the library of the late Cardinal Newman, which contains many historical documents relating to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Lord Hailsham of Saint Marylebone dies: London - October 2001.

It is with much regret that the Chancery notes the passing of the Rt Hon Lord Hailsham of Saint Marylebone, KG, CH, QC, FRS. Lord Hailsham was a gold medallist of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, and died on 12 October 2001 at the age of 94.

Lord Hailsham(left) was one of the greatest and most colourful figures of both British politics and English Law since the Second World War. His life spanned almost the whole of the last century and he played a leading role in many of the main events of it.

The eldest son of the 1st Viscount Hailsham, Lord High Chancellor of England, Quintin McGarel Hogg followed his father into politics and the law after a distinguished career at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where he gained firsts in Mods and Greats and was elected a Fellow of All Souls at the age of 24. He was called to the Bar in 1932 and elected to Parliament in a controversial by-election in 1938.

When war broke out, he joined the Rifle Brigade and was wounded serving with the Middle Eastern Land Forces in the Western Desert in 1941. When he returned to politics, Prime Minister Winston Churchill appointed him Under-Secretary of State for Air.

He was elevated to the House of Lords in 1950 after his father's death and took silk in 1953, becoming a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 1956. That same year, Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden asked him to serve as First Lord of the Admiralty and he played a prominent part in the Suez crisis, defending the deployment of British troops in the Canal Zone. He served as Education Minister under Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and was appointed Lord President of the Council and Chairman of the Conservative Party in 1957. He became Lord Privy Seal after the Conservatives' election victory in 1959 and was given various ad hoc tasks, including the negotiation of a nuclear test ban treaty in Moscow.

In 1963, he suffered the greatest disappointment of his career when he was defeated in his bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Consolation came in 1970, however, when Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath gave him the chance to follow his father onto the Woolsack as Lord High Chancellor, a position he also occupied in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government from 1979-87.

He was appointed by Her Majesty The Queen a Companion of Honour in 1974 and created a Knight of the Garter in 1988. He is succeeded by his son the Hon Douglas Hogg, MP, and leaves one other son and three daughters.

The Order's investiture mass at Westminster Cathedral on 7 November 2001 was held in his memory. The delegation was represented by the Delegate, Anthony Bailey and Branimira Nacheva, Secretary to the Chancellor at the Service of Thanksgiving, which was held at Westminster Abbey on 23 January 2002 in the presence of many personalities and statesmen, including our Prior, the Rt Rev George Stack, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster.

Please remember him in your prayers.