Mastermind behind King Charles’s coronation bestowed with a ‘quick’ knighthood
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King Charles has quietly issued his first knighthood since he became king.
The monarch presented an award to the 18th Duke of Norfolk, the oldest peer in Britain, just 10 days after he inherited his mother’s throne.
The knighthood was determined by the Queen while she was still alive and announced in her birthday honors list in June. But no ceremony had yet taken place, meaning the Duke was not entitled to wear his Royal Victorian Order, GCVO, medal at her funeral on September 19.
So on the night of September 18, the King found a moment to issue the insignia and perform the award – also known as ‘dubbing’ – in which he placed a sword on each shoulder of the Duke in recognition of his work as Earl. Marshal of the Royal House.
The Duke of Norfolk’s role as Earl Marshal walks in the procession as 200 members of the Royal Navy pull the coffin of the late Queen Elizabeth II who died at Balmoral Castle on 8 September
The monarch gave an award to the 18th Duke of Norfolk, the oldest peer in Britain, just 10 days after he inherited his mother’s throne
A source said: ‘The dubbing actually makes you a knight. The king must have given it to him along with a sash so that he could dress him properly for the funeral the next day.’
Another source described the Knighthood as a ‘quickie’, organized to thank the Duke for his hard work in the wake of the Queen’s death. It is believed to have taken place in a back room of Buckingham Palace. The ceremony has yet to appear in the court circular.
The Queen is said to personally love the Duke of Norfolk and encouraged him in his seven-year quest to save his marriage to Georgina Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk, which ended in divorce earlier this year.
The late monarch died before she had a chance to complete the process of knighting her boyfriend, and shortly before announcing his engagement to his girlfriend Francesca “Chica” Herbert.
The Duke, now styled Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk, GCVO, DL, is now busily planning a wedding in November and carrying out his duties as the man in charge of the king’s coronation.
The Queen is said to personally love The Duke of Norfolk (pictured) and encouraged him in his seven-year quest to save his marriage to Georgina Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk, which ended in divorce earlier this year.
Eagle eyes saw that the Duke, known to friends as Eddie, did not wear his GCVO cross at any of the events during the ten-day mourning period leading up to the funeral, but did wear it at the funeral itself. It seemed he also found a chance to polish his other medals, which had looked tarnished at previous mourning events but shone like new when he took his place in the Mall with his new blue sash at the funeral.
Last week, the Duke’s niece, society’s darling Lady Kinvara Balfour, praised her uncle in Tatler magazine, saying: ‘Uncle Eddie has really done an excellent job. What a show of elegance, efficiency and rare precision he has produced for our nation and the world – just as the late Queen Elizabeth II herself did. He is an incredible father of five children, also a grandfather… And he used to be a Formula 1 driver. He’s a bit of a legend.’
The Duke lives at his ancestral seat, Arundel Castle in West Sussex, but will not live there with his new wife Chica when she becomes Duchess of Norfolk. They have chosen to live in a nicer farm nearby.
His ex-wife Georgina, Duchess of Norfolk, 60, will live at nearby Angmering Park House and has 100 acres of the estate, which makes up a small part of 16,000 acres owned by the Duke on the South Downs.
The Duke was banned from driving last week after using his mobile phone while driving in Battersea, southwest London, on April 7, and while admitting the offence, his legal team tried to avoid a ban over ‘exceptional hardships’ – claimed he needed his permit to arrange the king’s upcoming coronation, known as Golden Orb.
A friend of the staunch Catholic duke, the highest duke in England and a colleague of the bank, said last week that he believed the magistrates had made the right decision not to accept his defense and is “grateful” that they did. have not done.
The source said: ‘Eddie acknowledges that his attempt to evade a driving ban has gone haywire and he is deeply sorry to have displeased the King. He plans to take it easy for the next two months and just continue making the nation proud by planning Golden Orb.”