London – December 2020. The Delegation of Great Britain and Ireland of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George notes with much sadness the passing in London on 2 December 2020 aged 93, of the former Delegate for Great Britain and Ireland, the 13th Lord Belhaven and Stenton.
Robert (Robin) Belhaven and Stenton was appointed a Knight of Justice of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George by decree of HRH Prince Ferdinand of Bourbon Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro and Grand Master on 5 June 2000. He succeeded Lord Mowbray, Segrave and Stourton as British and Irish Delegate of the Constantinian Order in 2000 by special decree of the Grand Master and served a full term in office until June 2003.
Lord Belhaven and Stenton was born in February 1927 and succeeded his father, the 12th Lord Belhaven and Stenton in 1961. He was educated at Eton College before serving from 1946-1948 as a Lieutenant in The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). Lord Belhaven and Stenton married Elizabeth Moseley in 1952 and had one son and daughter. This marriage was dissolved in 1973. In the same year Lord Belhaven and Stenton married Rosemary, Lady McTaggart who subsequently died.
In 1986 Lord Belhaven married Malgorzata Maria Hruzik-Mazurkiewicz, from Krakow, Poland from which they have one daughter. From the moment of his elevation to the House of Lords until the 1999 abolition of the rights of hereditary peers to sit in the Upper Chamber, Lord Belhaven and Stenton was an active Conservative Peer and served on numerous committees including the British-Polish Group, British-Slovenian Group and the British-Slovakian Group. In 1995 he was decorated with the Commander Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland in recognition of his longstanding championing of British-Polish relations.
Robin Belhaven is succeeded as 14th Lord Belhaven and Stenton by his son, the Hon. Frederick Carmichael Hamilton who was born in 1953. Robin Belhaven converted to become a Roman Catholic in the Jubilee Year 2000 after many years of attending mass at Westminster Cathedral. His wife Lady (Malgosia) Belhaven and Stenton (seen in the above photo) has for many years been an active campaigner and supporter for countless charitable, religious and good will organisations across Britain and Poland and his daughter the Hon. Olenka Hamilton is an editor at the Catholic Herald.
A private funeral will shortly take place and it is expected that a memorial service will organised once the Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted.
Requiescat in pace. Rest in peace. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.