Andy Murray, Prince William, and Investitures

     Prince William took another step in his transition to becoming a full-time working member of the Royal Family when he stood in for his grandmother the Queen at an investiture yesterday.

     An investiture is a ceremony in which a person is invested with an award, honor, or membership in an order of chivalry for individual achievements and/or services to society in the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, and the world at large, which is similar to what the President of the United States does in awarding 

Grand Cross Star for the Order of the British Empire.
This order the youngest and largest of the orders of chivalry.

distinctions such as the Medal of Honor and the Medal of Freedom. In Britain, most honors are given to people who are selected by the Prime Minister's office, while a few honors (such as membership in the Order of the Garter and the Order of the Thistle) remain the personal gift of the monarch. The Queen, as the Fount of Honor, presides over most of these ceremonies since the honors are given in her name, though Prince Charles and Princess Anne have also preformed the ceremony under a dispensation warrant when the Queen is unable to do so. There are around 25 investitures per year, and they are usually held at Buckingham Palace, but also take place at Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. Investitures may also be held overseas during a State visit by the Queen or any foreign visit by a member of the Royal Family. Recipients of honors are named in either the New Years Honors List (released on New Year’s Day) or the Birthday Honors List (released on the Queen’s official birthday in June). 

     Among the honoree’s yesterday was tennis player Andy Murray, who was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to tennis. The 26 year old Scotsman won the 

Andy Murray

Wimbledon tennis championship back in June, becoming the first British man to do so since Fred Perry in 1936 when Edward VIII was king, as well as the first Scot since Harold Mahony in 1896 during Queen Victoria’s reign. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are fans of Murray, and have attended some of his matches. So when Murray went up to have his OBE pinned on him by Prince William, the two men chatted for over a minute – discussing Murray’s recent back surgery, as well as the encouraging letters Murray received from the Duke and Duchess, with Murray joking about Kate’s handwriting being better than William’s. This light conversation took longer than the 30 seconds usually permitted during these ceremonies (so as to keep the investiture moving along and ensure that it runs for an hour). As it was, the ceremony ran over by 25 minutes due to “excessive” chatting between William and other honoree’s, but regardless, it went well without a hitch. 

     The Duke of Cambridge also bestowed knighthoods to two individuals, using the ceremonial sword that once belonged to his great-grandfather, George VI. One of them, Sir Kenneth Gibson, is a school headmaster from northeast England whose knighthood was awarded for services to education after a 35 year career in several executive positions in the education profession. The other one went to Professor Nicola Cullum, who was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) for services to nursing research and wound care. Another honoree was Welsh singer and broadcaster Aled Jones, who is one of the hosts of the BBC’s Songs of Praise and was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) who services to music, broadcasting, and charity. Joining him were Vicar of Dibly producer Jon Plowman – who received an OBE for services to television, conservationist Helen Butler (MBE) for services to conservation, and Cornish restaurant entrepreneur Jill Stein (OBE) for services to the restaurant industry as the co-owner of The Seafood Restaurant with television chef Rick Stein.

     Men who receive knighthoods are allowed to use Sir before their names, whilst women – depending on the type of honor – may use either Lady or Dame. People who receive any honor (including knighthoods) are allowed to use post-nominal’s following their name. For example, Andy Murray can now sign his name as “Andrew/Andy Murray, OBE” and Professor Nicola Cullum may sign her name as “Nicola Cullum, DBE”. It is also possible for a person to receive more than one honor in his or her lifetime.

     The investiture ceremony marks the highest-profile royal role in which Prince William taken part. Since leaving the military as an RAF search-and-rescue pilot, William is now in what aides describe as a “transitional year” in which he will settle with his family in their new apartment at Kensington Palace. He will also be deciding on a personal public service role, such as devoting time to charities and causes that are important to him, while also be stepping up his royal duties in preparation for his eventual kingship. 

     Performing investitures are a taste of what William will be expected to do on a regular basis as king in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms. According to the Guardian, the Queen: 

“has personally conducted more than 610 [investitures] since her first, on 27 February 1952, when among other honours she bestowed the Victoria Cross on Private William Speakman, from Altringham and of The King's Own Scottish Borderers, for his ‘utter contempt at personal danger beyond praise’ during the Korean war.” 

The newspaper also added that the 87-year-old Queen now “suffers from bouts of sciatica [a form of lower back pain] and knee problems” and so having William standing in will be helpful going forward. 

The Queen is gradually handing off more of her ceremonial duties to other members of her family.

     However, it is not as though the Queen was taking the day off entirely. In fact, she was in Buckingham Palace having a meeting with the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, Vaughn Solomon-Schofield, who presented the Queen with a brooch with a pearl and 300 small diamonds as a gift from the people of the Canadian province. So Elizabeth II is merely allowing other members of her family to represent her from time to time in certain situations so that she can lighten up her workload. As she, Prince Philip, and other older members of the Royal Family continue to advance in age, we will be seeing more of Prince Charles, Prince William, and the younger generation increasing their profile in important duties as the monarchy gradually enters a new chapter in its 1,000 year long existence.

Photo Credit: Robert Prummel via Wikimedia Commons cc, Christopher Johnson via Flickr cc, Lzur via Wikimedia Commons cc

The British Golden Summer of 2013

Sidenote: Although this is primarily a blog concerning the monarchy, from time to time, there will be postings about people, situations, and events throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth that have an effect on the monarchy, or have a relation to it. This is one of them.     

     Throughout the summer of 2013, the people of the United Kingdom have had much reason to celebrate.  Back in June, Justin Rose won the U.S. Open golf tournament.

Justin Rose, winner of the 2013 U.S. Open.

With his spectacular victory, Andy Murray broke the 77 year British drought at Wimbledon. The trophy was presented to him by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth and President of the All-England Lawn, Tennis, and Croquet Club.

     In this month, Andy Murray became the first British man to win at Wimbledon in 77 years, the British and Irish Lions defeated Australia in their first rugby series victory in 16 tears, Chris Froome became the second consecutive – and second ever – British winner of the Tour de France, and (as of this writing) the English cricket team appears to be on its way to defeating the Australians in the Ashes tournament. After a seemingly prolonged winter season, real summer finally arrived in the UK with temperatures soaring to 90°F (32°C) in some areas.  And to top it all off, there was the arrival of Prince George of Cambridge, who will one day be king of the United Kingdom.

Chris Froome follows in the footsteps of a fellow Brit, Bradley Wiggins, to win the 2013 Tour de France.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with Prince George

     So it has been another golden summer for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, coming on the heels of the success emanating from the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Summer Olympics in London last year. And with the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year, there will another summer for the Brits to feel a sense of patriotism and be proud of themselves. Although British athletes will be competing under separate English, Northern Irish, Scottish, and Welsh teams, it is hoped that residents of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales will support their fellow country men and women from other parts of the UK against non-UK teams.

These games bring the 2 billion people across the far-flung Commonwealth together.

     But then again, these are the Commonwealth Games where there are historical, cultural, and familial bonds and connections between the people of Britain, and people from places like Canada, Australia, India, and New Zealand. It is conceivable that some Scots will support an Australian team over an English team, or for some English people to support a Canadian team over a Welsh team. Indeed, some people within the British Indian community may be inclined to support an Indian team over any of the hometown British teams in Glasgow. For Queen Elizabeth II, who is the symbolic Head of the Commonwealth and monarch of 16 Commonwealth countries, there must also be conflicting loyalties.

      

The Commonwealth of Nations. The countries in red represent the members of the Commonwealth that are realms that share the British monarch as head of state. The countries in blue represent the members of the Commonwealth that either have their own monarchies, or are republics.

     Regardless of these anomalies however, the Games are an opportunity for Commonwealth countries to come together and celebrate what ties them together, while engaging in competitive sportsmanship. With the wind at their backs from the last two years, British athletes in particular ought to be feeling good about making the summer of 2014 another golden one for British sports. Meanwhile, the monarchy, with its newest member, should feel relatively good about its position going forward as well. For the public, these events over the past two years (along with the great weather) have made them feel good about themselves and proud to be British.

     But while these events have brought much to celebrate, the same cannot be said about the UK economy. The Conservative (Tory)-led coalition government under David Cameron has presided over an economy which has basically flat-lined over the past three years, with austerity being at the heart of the government’s economic policy. In many ways, events such as Murray’s win at Wimbledon and the birth of Prince George provide a dash of color and good news against the gray backdrop of economic malaise. There has been a slight uptick as of late, but the reality is that the economy (whether under the policies of the Tory Pary, Labour Party, or another coalition with the Liberal Democrats) must improve substantially throughout the entire United Kingdom, or else I fear that even royal and sporting events will not be enough to lift people’s spirits. Intangible feeling can only go so far, for at the end of the day, it is all about the realities of the pocketbook and wallet.

Photo Credit: Christopher Johnson via Flickr cc, Keith Allison via Flickr cc, Christophe Badoux via Wikimedia Commons cc, Christopher Neve via Photopin cc, Thomas Nugent via Geograph cc