by The Laird o’Thistle
July 21 2011
As a special surprise for his recent 90th birthday (June 10) the Queen named Prince Philip Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom.Apparently, she sprung the news on him during a private lunch at Buckingham Palace on the day, and he was reportedly very deeply touched.The title is long since totally honorary and ceremonial, dating back to medieval times when it was one of the great offices of State.It had largely fallen into disuse over the last three centuries, replaced by the “First Lord of the Admiralty.”Re-vested in the Queen herself since the reorganization of the Navy in 1964, she is believed to have chosen this particular honor to recognize Prince Philip for having long ago given up his promising naval career in order to render her his full support.
The office has two very visible symbols.First is the “Verge” which is a mace-like staff carried before the Lord High Admiral on official occasions.If memory serves, the current one dates from the reign of Charles II.(The Earl of Wessex included a segment on the Verge in the piece he did on Portsmouth as part of his “Crown and Country” series, back in his television production days.)The other symbol is the Lord High Admiral’s flag, which is currently in the Church of St. Martin in the Field.
In the High Middle Ages, the office of Lord High Admiral regularly went to notable courtiers.Scotland, as well as England, had a Lord High Admiral, and the earliest one I’ve been able to fi nd is “Prince” Henry Sinclair of Rosslyn, the Earl of Orkney, who is supposed to have sailed to the New World in the late 14th century, “discovering” Nova Scotia and possibly venturing down as far as New England.Another Scottish incumbent was the 3rd Earl of Bothwell, who was the third husband of Mary Queen of Scots.In England, the office was held in the early 17th century by the Duke of Buckingham, the powerful favorite of both James VI/I and Charles I.
During the late 17th century the royal Stuarts rather liked to keep the office for themselves.Both Charles II and James VII/II held the office (James twice, both as Duke of York and as King). Their cousin Prince Rupert of the Rhine also held the office for a time, as did King William III.Queen Anne made her husband, Prince George of Denmark, Lord High Admiral at one point, and briefly also held the title for herself.
When there was no officially designated Lord High Admiral the role devolved on the First Lord of the Admiralty, who oversaw the Board of Admiralty.After 1709 the title Lord High Admiral re-appeared only once before 1964 when it was briefly held by HRH the Duke of Clarence (later William IV) in 1827-28.He was another old sailor.
Two holders of the office of First Lord of the Admiralty in the 20th-century merit mention.The first was Winston Churchill.He served twice, first from 1911-1915, and again 1939-40, thus at the outset of both World Wars.The second was Duff Cooper, the courtier and politician who also happens to have been the great-granduncle of the current Prime Minister, David Cameron.
The office of Lord High Admiral / First Lord of the Admiralty is not to be confused with the office of “First Sea Lord” who is the professional head of the serving Navy.(That office is also known as the Chief of Naval Staff.)The latter office, First Sea Lord, was held by Prince Philip’s grandfather, Prince Louis of Battenberg, from 1912-1914.A brilliant and devoted naval officer, Prince Louis fell victim to the strong anti-German sentiments at the outbreak of WWI. Prince Louis’ son, the late Earl Mountbatten of Burma, also served as First Sea Lord from 1955 to 1959, having previously served with distinction in WWII.Prince Phillip himself was a serving naval officer in both the Mediterranean and Pacific fleets in WWII, and showed the potential to possibly rise to be First Sea Lord in his own right, had not his wife’s accession to the throne cut short his active career.He was appointed an Admiral of the Fleet in 1953, a “five-star” rank to which no one has been appointed since 1996.
There is only one title of higher honor which the Queen might have bestowed on her husband, that of Prince Consort.It has long been rumored that she has wanted to do this on various occasions, but that he has adamantly refused.Short of that, she has chosen to invest him with a title she has held directly, as Sovereign, for nearly forty years.Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, there will be an appropriate occasion for the new Lord High Admiral to be publicly recognized and honored by the branch of service which he so deeply loves.
Yours Aye,
Ken Cuthbertson
P.S.I also want to note the passing of the Earl of Harewood, the Queen’s cousin, on July 11.The eldest grandson of George V and Queen Mary, the Earl in later years shared a variety of memories of his grandparents, his uncle the Duke of Windsor, and others of the generation past with various documentary makers.A prisoner at Colditz at the end of WWII, he escaped death only because the officer in charge prudently decided not to carry out the death warrant personally signed by Hitler.Lord Harewood had the dubious distinction of being the first divorcee in the current royal family, in 1967, which led to him being held at arm’s length for a few years.But in due course, he was welcomed again into the family and attended the thanksgiving service for the Duke of Edinburgh’s 90th birthday just weeks before his passing.The Earl’s younger brother, Gerald, died in 1998.With his death, the Queen becomes the eldest living member of her grandparents’ family.