97. The Royal Society of Saint George, Christmas Banquet, Mansion House, 15 December 2023


An amazing evening!  Along with Livery Masters and Past Masters, the Lord Mayor and City of London representatives, and a great crowd, we had a great evening of music, carol singing and good food, good wine and great company.

The Objects of Royal Society of St George include fostering a love of England, strengthening England and the Commonwealth by spreading the knowledge of English history, traditions and ideals, and upholding the Monarchy and the Constitution.  This obviously included having a superb evening of fun and fellowship.  We spent the reception catching up with fellow Masters and Consorts before entering the Egyptian Hall laid out in great style.  Over a four course meal with matched wines we were entertained by the London Banqueting Ensemble and a feast of seasonal classics.


The finale was the Post Horn Gallop by horn players on the balcony at each end of the hall.  There was definitely a competition between them as to who could keep blowing for longer.

We then joined with the scholars and voices of St Stephen Walbrook for a rousing singing of traditional carols.  The toast to the Lord Mayor, City of London Corporation and the Sheriffs was proposed by the Chairman, Deputy Christopher Hayward, who we found out in discussion afterwards lives nearby to us (he started by saying he lived in a small village we would never have heard of, to which our response was, we know the village pub well!). The response and toast to “England and St George” was given by the Lord Mayor.  He included some really good jokes which I will not share as I would like to recycle them.

Afterwards Eileen and I had a chat with the Lord Mayor and he expressed his thanks for the leadership being shown by the Water Conservators on the environment and climate change.  He was also pleased how we were working with other Livery Companies especially on the Coffee Colloquy. I complimented him on his commitment to the UN sustainable development goals and he responded with best wishes to the Company and its members for Christmas and the New Year.


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