Ceremony of the installtaion of Knights Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath
25 May 2010 at 11:15 am
Nine new Knights Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (GCB) were installed at Westminster Abbey by HRH The Prince of Wales on Tuesday 25 May 2010.
The installation ceremony took place in the Abbey's Lady Chapel - which is also the Chapel of the Order of the Bath, of which the Prince of Wales is the Great Master.
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath was established as a military order by Letters Patent of George I on 18 May 1725, when the Dean of Westminster was made Dean of the Order in perpetuity and the Lady Chapel designated as the Chapel of the Order.
However, the Order was a revival of an older custom going back to medieval times when part of the ceremony of knighthood included a ritual bath symbolic of spiritual purification and a vigil the night before receiving the honour.
In 1913 George V revived the installation service and the erection of stall-plates, banners and crests was begun again. The banner, crest and mantling of each GCB (Knight Grand Cross) hang above their stall until their death when they are returned to the family, but a copper stall-plate enamelled with their coat of arms remains as a permanent record. HM The Queen is Sovereign of the Order and installation services usually take place every four years.