Prince Edward,Duke of Kent is a member of the British royal family. The elder son of Prince George,Duke of Kent,and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark,he is a grandson of George V,nephew of Edward VIII and George VI,and first cousin of Elizabeth II. Edward's mother was also a first cousin of Prince Philip,Duke of Edinburgh,consort of Elizabeth II,making him both a second cousin and first cousin once removed to Charles III. He is 41st in the line of succession to the British throne.
Simon Francis Mann is a British mercenary and former officer in the SAS. He trained to be an officer at Sandhurst and was commissioned into the Scots Guards. He later became a member of the SAS. On leaving the military,he co-founded Sandline International with fellow ex-Scots Guards Colonel Tim Spicer in 1996. Sandline operated mostly in Angola and Sierra Leone,but a contract with the government of Papua New Guinea attracted a significant amount of negative publicity in what became known as the Sandline affair.
The Royal Anglian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964,making it the oldest of the Line Regiments now operating in the British Army,and can trace its history back to 1685. The regiment was the first of the large infantry regiments and is one of the three regiments of the Queen's Division.
The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) was a West African multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOMOG was a formal arrangement for separate armies to work together. It was largely supported by personnel and resources of the Nigerian Armed Forces,with sub-battalion strength units contributed by other ECOWAS members —Ghana,Guinea,Sierra Leone,The Gambia,Liberia,Mali,Burkina Faso,Niger,and others.
Spelthorne is a constituency in Surrey,represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Lincoln Jopp,a Conservative. Its previous MP Kwasi Kwarteng did not stand for re-election in the 2024 United Kingdom general election.
The Royal Scots Borderers,1st Battalion,the Royal Regiment of Scotland was a battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The battalion formed on 1 August 2006 when its antecedent regiments - the Royal Scots and the King's Own Scottish Borderers - amalgamated just after the formation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2006.
General David Julian Richards,Baron Richards of Herstmonceux,is a retired senior British Army officer and Peer who was formerly the Chief of the Defence Staff,the professional head of the British Armed Forces. He succeeded Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup in this role on 29 October 2010.
Paul Mealor CLJ FLSW is a Welsh composer. A large proportion of his output is for chorus,both a cappella and accompanied. He came to wider notice when his motet Ubi Caritas et Amor was performed at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011. He later composed the song "Wherever You Are",which became the 2011 Christmas number one in the UK Singles Chart. He has also composed two operas,four symphonies,concerti and chamber music.
Gareth Edmund Malone is an English choirmaster and broadcaster,self-described as an "animateur,presenter and populariser of choral singing". He is best known for his television appearances in programmes such as The Choir,which focus on singing and introducing choral music to new participants. Malone was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours,for services to music.
Daniel Owen Woolgar Jarvis is a British politician and former Army officer who has served as a Minister of State for Security since July 2024 and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Barnsley North,formerly Barnsley Central,since 2011. A member of the Labour and Co-operative Party,he was Mayor of South Yorkshire,formerly Sheffield City Region,from 2018 to 2022. Jarvis served as a member of the Parachute Regiment from 1997 to 2011.
"Wherever You Are" is a song written by Paul Mealor and performed by the Military Wives Choir,sung by ladies from Chivenor and Plymouth under the direction of Gareth Malone. It is a spin-off of the BBC Two television series The Choir:Military Wives. It was released on 19 December 2011 following a campaign to make it the 2011 UK Christmas number one. The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 1,claiming the Christmas number 1 –selling more than 556,000 copies in the week,more than the rest of the Top 12 combined. The song also claimed the status of the biggest first week sales since "A Moment Like This" by Leona Lewis sold over 571,000 copies in its first week in 2006. The song was included on their debut studio album In My Dreams.
The Military Wives Choir is a registered charity and network of 75 choirs in British military bases across the UK and overseas,bringing women in the military community closer together through singing. With over 2,200 members,the MWC network is tri-service and any woman with a military connection can join including those currently serving,veterans,mothers,sisters,and daughters,empowering women from across the military community. The organisation is also a subsidiary charity of SSAFA.
The United Kingdom began a military intervention in Sierra Leone on 7 May 2000 under the codename Operation Palliser. Although small numbers of British personnel had been deployed previously,Palliser was the first large-scale intervention by British forces in the Sierra Leone Civil War. In early May 2000,the Revolutionary United Front (RUF)—one of the main parties to the civil war—advanced on the country's capital,Freetown,prompting the British government to dispatch an "Operational Reconnaissance and Liaison Team" (ORLT) to prepare to evacuate foreign citizens. On 6 May,the RUF blocked the road connecting Freetown to the country's main airport,Lungi. The next day,British soldiers began to secure the airport and other areas essential to an evacuation. The majority of those who wished to leave were evacuated within the first two days of the operation,but many chose to stay following the arrival of British forces.
The coronation of George VI and his wife,Elizabeth,as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth,Emperor and Empress consort of India took place at Westminster Abbey,London,on Wednesday 12 May 1937. George VI ascended the throne upon the abdication of his brother,Edward VIII,on 11 December 1936,three days before his 41st birthday. Edward's coronation had been planned for 12 May and it was decided to continue with his brother and sister-in-law's coronation on the same date.
Corporal of Horse William James Cross was a soldier of the British Army who fought in numerous campaigns during World War II. He participated in battles in Palestine,Salerno,and at Normandy. In 2015,he was awarded the Légion d’honneur.
Brigadier Edward Adam Butler CBE,DSO is a former British Army officer who commanded Task Force Helmand.
The coronation of Charles III and his wife,Camilla,as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms,took place on Saturday,6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey. Charles acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022 upon the death of his mother,Elizabeth II. It was the first coronation held since Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 nearly 70 years prior.
