Prince of Wales attends Order of the Bath installation

Thursday, 24th May 2018

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Great Master of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, attended a Service for the Order at Westminster Abbey on Thursday 24th May 2018 in the Order’s 293rd year including the Ceremony for the Installation of Knights Grand Cross of the Order in the Lady Chapel, the Chapel of the Order.

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath was established as a military order by Letters Patent of George I on 18th May 1725, when the Dean of Westminster was made Dean of the Order in perpetuity and the Abbey’s Lady Chapel designated the Chapel of the Order. Later, the Order was expanded to include civil servants as well as military officers. The Order’s origins were in a medieval custom when before the ceremony a knight took a ritual bath symbolic of spiritual purification and spent a night in prayer. The Oath taken by new Knights Grand Cross includes a commitment to honour God above all things, to love The Queen, and to defend widows and orphans.

The service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of the Order. He read the lesson from St Paul’s epistle to the Philippians chapter 4, verses 4 to 8.

The Knights Grand Cross of the Order who took the Oath and were Installed in the Chapel of the Order were: Admiral The Lord West of Spithead, Admiral Sir Nigel Essenhigh, The Lord Wilson of Dinton, Field Marshal The Lord Walker of Aldringham, Sir Nigel Wicks, General Sir Jeremy Mackenzie, Sir Anthony Battishill, The Lord Burns and Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Johns.

The Knights Grand Cross who took the Oath were: The Right Honourable The Lord Geidt, Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford, Admiral Sir George Zambellas, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, General The Lord Richards of Herstmonceux, Sir David Normington, Sir Mark Stanhope, General The Lord Dannatt, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, Admiral Sir Jonathan Band, The Right Honourable The Lord Janvrin, Sir Richard Mottram, Marshal of the Royal Air Force The Lord Stirrup, General Sir Michael Jackson, Sir David Omand, Sir Hayden Phillips, and The Right Honourable The Lord Fellowes.

The ‘senior’ Knights present at the service, who have already been installed, were: General Sir Roger Wheeler, Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Alcock, General Sir John Wates, Field Marshal The Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, General The Lord Ramsbotham, Admiral Sir Jock Slater, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Benjamin Bathurst, Sir Peter Middleton, Field Marshal Sir John Chapple, Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Peter Harding, Marshal of the Royal Air Force The Lord Craig of Radley, Admiral Sir Desmond Cassidi, and The Lord Armstrong of Ilminster.

Also present were: Lieutenant Colonel Michael Vernon, the Deputy Secretary; Major General Charles Vyvyan, the Gentleman Usher of the Scarlet Rod; Thomas Woodcock, the Genealogist; Rear Admiral Iain Henderson, the Registrar and Secretary; Admiral of the Fleet the Lord Boyce, the Bath King of Arms.

The service was sung by the Choir of Westminster Abbey, conducted by James O’Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers. The organ was played by Peter Holder, Sub Organist.

Fanfares were sounded by trumpeters of the Band of the Prince of Wales’s Division, under the direction of Band Sergeant Major Bart Simmonds. The Band of the Royal Air Force Regiment played under the direction of Flight Lieutenant Tom Rodda, Director of Music.