The FC Handbook

HRH The Duke of Kent has been at the heart of the British Royal Family throughout his life. As a working member of the Royal Family, he has supported his cousin, The Queen, representing her at home and abroad. His royal duties began when, in 1952, at the age of sixteen, he walked in the procession behind King George VI's coffin, later paying homage to The Queen at her Coronation in 1953. Since then, he has witnessed and participated in key Royal occasions. He represented The Queen at independence ceremonies from the age of twenty-five, he was riding with her when blanks were fired at Trooping the Colour in 1981, he was the oldest soldier on parade at Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph in November 2020 and he was alongside The Queen at her official birthday celebrations in June 2021 as Colonel of the Scots Guards. No member of the Royal Family has spoken extensively of the modern reign and their part in it before. A Royal Life is a unique account based on a series of conversations between the Duke and acclaimed Royal historian Hugo Vickers. It covers some of the most important moments and experiences of the Duke's life, from his upbringing at his family home Coppins in Buckinghamshire, his twenty-one years of army life, his royal tours and events, through to his work for over 140 different organisations, including presenting the trophies at Wimbledon for more than 50 years. Here too are recollections of family members including his mother, Princess Marina, his grandmother, Queen Mary, his cousin, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and his uncle, King George VI. The Duke is a keen photographer and the book contains never before seen photographs from his private collection. Other members of the Royal Family contribute their memories, including his wife, the Duchess of Kent, the Duke's siblings, Princess Alexandra and Prince Michael of Kent, his son, the Earl of St Andrews, his daughter, Lady Helen Taylor as well as his cousins, Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, Archduchess Helen of Austria and her brother, Hans Veit Toerring. A Royal Life is an unprecedented, insightful and remarkable slice of Royal history.

This book is a well-researched study by a competent masonic scholar who has welded links from the changing scenes that arose in an era in which the most important step forward in organised Freemasonry was taken, the masonic Union between the two Grand Lodges in 1813, and from the events that followed. As a vehicle for his survey the author chose an Antients lodge which was formed by Dispensation in December 1785 at The Ship Tavern, situated at the junction of Gate Street and Little Turnstile, off Lincolns Inn Fields. It was constituted in February 1786 by Laurence Dermott, probably the most outstanding character in the history of Freemasonry in determining the course to be steered, who fancied those brethren Warrant No 234. That lodge on that night took the name Domatic, and on the subsequent renumberings and closing-up of the Registers now take their place as No 177 on the Register of United Grand Lodge of England. Whilst the records of the Domatic Lodge. their Lodge of Instruction (AD 1808), their Royal Arch Chapter (AD 1793), and Chapter of Instruction (AD 1850) provide terms of reference and an ordered sequence the book is not intended to be taken as a history of that group. Personalities arise throughout the account and it is from the examination of their behaviour and activity that the reader will be enabled to appreciate the modus Operandi and the emergence of things masonic, also to understand the difficulties of that age. The human element bursts into various scenes and events and it is the authors treatment that converts the factual into the fascinating and makes for such absorbing reading. He takes notes of the various qualities and failings that one would expect to find in any large organisation, but, as he has stated, this time they have been clothed with a Masonic apron! Although it is a progressive account of the development of Freemasonry with such interesting aspects it is also a book of reference and a guide to further information if a study of a particular facet of Freemasonry is desired, and for that reason it  will undoubtedly take its place among the important masonic publications. Format : Hardback Page : 176 Size : 247 x 190

This title looks at both the controversy surrounding present-day issues along with the long history of anti - masonry and what the future holds for the Freemasons. In paperback.