The Royal Commission for the United States of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George held an investiture of seventeen new knights, dames and chaplains in Washington, D.C. on the afternoon of Saturday, 21 September 2024.
INVESTITURE DAY
The Grand Master of the Constantinian Order, His Royal Highness Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, presided at the investiture. The Investiture Mass was celebrated by the Patron of the American Commission, the Most Reverend Timothy Broglio, Chaplain Grand Cross of the Order. Archbishop Broglio is the Archbishop for the Military Services USA and is President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Mass was concelebrated by the Reverend Richard Mullins y Hernandez, Principal Chaplain of the Order’s American Commission, and by several other chaplains of the Order.
The Grand Master was accompanied by the Vice Grand Chancellor of the Constantinian Order, H.E. Guy Stair Sainty.
Two special guests at the investiture were H.E. Fra’ Thomas Mulligan, a member of the Sovereign Council of the Order of Malta and a Knight of Jure Sanguinis with Gold Star of the Constantinian Order, and H.E. Michael La Civita, Lieutenant of the Eastern Lieutenancy (U.S.A.) of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre and a Knight of Merit with Silver Star of the Constantinian Order..
The investiture took place in the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington.
That evening, there was a formal dinner attended by some seventy members and friends of the Constantinian Order. Archbishop Broglio gave the invocation. His Royal Highness the Grand Master spoke about the goals of the Order. And at the end of the meal, the Vice Grand Chancellor, Guy Sainty, one of the foremost historians of the Constantinian Order, was the dinner speaker.
The dinner was attended by the officers of the American Commission: Commission President Judge Brien Horan, Vice President Dr. John Ballard, Vice President Dr. John Haas (President Emeritus of the National Catholic Bioethics Center), Chancellor Osvaldo Marcenaro y Aguirre, Secretary Stephen Higgins, Treasurer Jeffrey Bedia, and Assistant Treasurer Michael Andriani III. Also present at the dinner were Fra’ Thomas Mulligan of the Sovereign Council of the Order of Malta, Michael La Civita, Lieutenant of the Eastern Lieutenancy of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, Colonel Michael Andriani (President Emeritus of the American Commission), George Gunning (Vice President Emeritus of the American Commission), Brigadier General Guy Sands-Pingot (Vice President Emeritus of the American Commission), and Michael Hahn (Chancellor Emeritus of the American Commission).
OTHER EVENTS DURING THE DUKE OF CALABRIA’S VISIT
His Royal Highness flew from Spain to Washington, D.C, on Thursday, 19 September. He was met at Dulles Airport by the President of the American Commission, Judge Horan, and the Vice President of the Commission, Dr. Ballard, who is President of the National Intelligence University (the higher education component of the American intelligence community.).
That evening, the Duke of Calabria had dinner with Messrs. Sainty, Horan and Ballard. They were joined by Colonel Michael Andriani, President Emeritus of the American Commission, and Osvaldo Marcenaro y Aguirre, Chancellor of the American Commission.
On Friday morning, 20 September, the Grand Master, accompanied by Messrs. Sainty and Horan, attended a breakfast at The Army and Navy Club, organized by Geoffrey Gamble, President Emeritus of the American Commission and a former member of the Sovereign Council of the Order of Malta. A principal topic of discussion was a subject very important to His Royal Highness: the role of the King of Spain, Carlos III, in helping the United States win its War of Independence.
Following breakfast, the Duke of Calabria, accompanied by Judge Horan and Rear Admiral Ballard, proceeded to Arlington National Cemetery, where Colonel Edward Jeep, Knight of Merit of the Order, gave him a tour of the cemetery. His Royal Highness attended the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, visited the Custis-Lee Mansion, and paid his respects at the grave of President John Kennedy. As the direct descendant of three French princes who served as Union officers during the American Civil War and as an hereditary companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion (composed of descendants of Union officers), the Duke of Calabria wished to visit the Tomb of the Civil War Unknowns, but access to it was blocked due to restoration work. He visited the grave of Major Carlos Alvarez de la Mesa, a Spanish national who fought and was wounded at Gettysburg as a Union officer assigned to the Spanish Company of the 39th New York State Volunteers. When His Royal Highness learned that the confrères accompanying him all had relatives buried in Arlington National Cemetery, he asked to visit those graves too. Accordingly, he paid his respects at the graves of Admiral Ballard’s father-in-law, Colonel Jeep’s grandfather, and Judge Horan’s great-uncle.
The cemetery visit was followed by a luncheon at the Hay-Adams Hotel with Admiral James Foggo, USN (Ret.), former commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, and Major General Bruce Scott, USA (Ret.), former commanding general of the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command, who are, respectively, the chairman of the board and the president of the Olmsted Foundation. Judge Horan, Admiral Ballard and Colonel Jeep also attended the luncheon. Topics covered included Spain’s role in the American War of Independence, the Spanish-American alliance within NATO, and the extraordinary success of the Olmsted Foundation.
Friday evening, Judge Horan, as commission president, held a small private dinner for the Duke of Calabria at the Cosmos Club. It was attended by the officers of the Commission, as well as several other Constantinian knights, including Fra’ Thomas Mulligan of the Sovereign Council of the Order of Malta, Michael La Civita, Lieutenant of the Eastern Lieutenancy of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and John Petrie, Windsor Herald at the College of Arms in London.
On Sunday morning, September 22, the Grand Master attended Mass at St. Matthew Cathedral with Judge Horan and Admiral Ballard. Colonel Edward Jeep then accompanied him to Dulles Airport, where he boarded his flight to Spain.
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