Congratulations to the Duke of Edinburgh on reaching his 90th birthday!
What I found interesting was this, not sure if this was an unusual practice or not:
Quote:
The queen marked the birthday by making Philip the titular, or nominal, head of the Royal Navy by conferring on him the title Lord High Admiral of the Navy, previously held by her. Philip gave up his naval career to devote his life to royal duty.
Considering his earlier sacrifice of career, a fitting birthday tribute indeed!
Not that big a bump up; he was already an admiral of the fleet.
Seriously: the LHA was historically the actual head of the navy, but the office was "in commission"—that is, executed by a committee of officials and flag officers known as the Board of Admiralty—for most of the period from the late 1600s until the creation of the Ministry of Defence in 1964. During this time there was no Lord High Admiral; the head of the Board of Admiralty was known as the First Lord of the Admiralty.
When the Board of Admiralty was abolished, the Queen became Lord High Admiral, but because there is now a Ministry of Defence that actually oversees the navy and the other services, the position is merely ceremonial. As far as I can tell, the only thing it involved was that the LHA’s flag as well as the Royal Standard were hoisted when the Queen went aboard a ship of the Royal Navy.
So now when Prince Philip goes aboard one of HM Ships, he will have three personal flags flying: his standard as Duke of Edinburgh, the Union Jack as the personal flag of an admiral of the fleet, and the flag of the Lord High Admiral:
HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh was appointed by The Queen today, the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom. The office of Lord High Admiral (of England, Great Britain and latterly the United Kingdom) which dates from the 15th century when not held by an individual was ‘put into commission’ and exercised by the Board of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. This board was headed by the First Lord of the Admiralty. For a great period of the existence of the office it was held by politicians and other appointees, Sir Winston Churchill for one. In 1964 when the unified Ministry of Defence came into being and the office of the First Lord of Admiralty was abolished, in consequence of which the functions of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were transferred to the Admiralty Board of the tri-service Defence Council and the office of the Lord High Admiral was taken back by the Crown and vested in the person of the Sovereign. It was very nice gesture indeed from The Queen to appoint her husband, a former career officer in the Royal Navy, the Lord High Admiral on the occasion of his 90th birthday.
John
In honour of his birthday, HRH was also appointed an honorary admiral and general in the Canadian Forces, the first time an honorary rank has been granted at the highest level.
Well I also sent him a set of steak knives.
gselvester;84674 wrote:
Well I also sent him a set of steak knives.
Ah, the personal touch. LOL. :cool:
gselvester;84674 wrote:
Well I also sent him a set of steak knives.
He seems like the sort of fellow who would appreciate a set of good steak knives.
