Irish Guards Association (London Branch) Annual Dinner – Wellington Barracks
20th November 2021The Irish Guards Association is one of our more recent affiliations and the Mistress and I, together with the Clerk and PM Andrew Golding, were delighted to be invited to their annual dinner in the Garrison Sergeants’ Mess at Wellington Barracks. Catherine and I were honoured to be placed at the top table, with many very distinguished current and former officers, including the Principal Guest, Major General Christopher Ghika who is the Major-General Commanding the Household Division. Captain Giles Bromley-Martin spoke eloquently of what the Regiment has been up to over the last couple of years, and General Ghika talked of what it means to him to be a “mick”, the qualities of an Irish Guardsman and how those qualities will help them endure in whatever challenges lay ahead. What was particularly apparent to me was the genuine affection in which the old soldiers held their officers, and vice versa. That camaraderie was more than evident in the bar afterwards … Many thanks to our Clerk’s Assistant, Alan Beggs who, as Honorary Secretary of the IGA, organised the whole splendid evening.