Summer 2024

Welcome to the my Summer update report.

It was with great pleasure (and relief) that we received the notification from the Palace that His Majesty The King had agreed to accept the Patronage of the Royal Society of St. George. We are really honoured that he has agreed to take on this role, one which his mother so wonderfully carried out for us during her reign.

We were reminded in the letter from the Palace that we must abide by the terms of our Charter and in particular that we are not party-political and should not do anything that might reflect badly on His Majesty and the rest of the Royal Family.

We recently shared a position statement and used the occasion to refocus our mission statement back to what it had originally been – “Promoting and celebrating Englishness and the English way of life”. There is still – if not more so now - the need to keep alive our history, traditions and ideals, to create a foundation to build for the future.

Many branches held events to celebrate St. George’s Day and my wife, Jan, and I were pleased to be able to attend some of them. It’s great to see so many people trying to raise our profile – and the flag – to remember this day.

The Society held our annual cadet parade and wreath laying ceremonies at the Cenotaph and at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. This was a really special day, with over 400 cadets marching past the Cenotaph and a great honour personally to lead the wreath laying. Our activities were picked up and shown on GB News, for which we are most grateful. As a result, we have gained over 180 new members – so a special welcome to them all.

D-Day 80 was also celebrated by a number of branches, many of which raised money for the relevant charities. It was good to see many of the last remaining veterans at the various events held both here and in France. They certainly have a great spirit. We should never forget their - and all the others who are no longer with us – bravery to fight for those freedoms we all take for granted today. For me, one of the most poignant parts, was the Prince of Wales’s speech during which he talked about those who did not survive the landings and who remained in France with the words of Rupert Brooke, “That there’s some corner of a foreign field, That is for ever England.”

 As we look forward to the rest of the year, we’ll be holding our AGM on 6^th September at the Union Jack Club in London and then on 13^th September we have our annual Battle of Britain Lunch at the RAF Club. I hope to see many of you at one or both of these events.

I know many branches will also be holding Trafalgar lunches and dinners.

I hope you all have a healthy and happy summer.

God save the King!

Nick

Nick Dutt

Chairman