London – November 2003. Following the 2003 investiture ceremony at Westminster Cathedral, a white tie dinner for 200 personalities was held at the Gladstone Library, 1 Whitehall Place, London SW1. The Guest of Honour was the Cardinal Grand Prior of the Order, Cardinal Pompedda and TRH The Duke and Duchess of Calabria. British and Irish Delegate H.E. Anthony Bailey hosted the event.
The Guest Speaker was The Rt Hon Paul Murphy, MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who was formally introduced by the former 9/11 Commissioner of Police and US Interim Minister of Interior in Iraq, Bernard Kerik, CBE.
Among the others attending were over 20 Ambassadors accredited to the Court of St James’s and Ireland, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly Lord Alderdice, Home Office Minister Baroness Scotland, Monsignor Mark Langham of Westminster Cathedral, Sheikh Zaki Badawi of the Muslim College, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain, The Lord Mayor of the City of Westminster, former Chief of the Defence Staff General Lord Guthrie, Lord Denman, Baroness Scott of Needham Market, Lord Lamont of Lerwick, and many knights and dames from the British and Irish delegation.
The Band of the Blues and Royals and Household Trumpeters performed the music throughout the evening.