Chris Ghika
Major General Sir Christopher John Ghika KCVO CBE is a retired senior British Army officer who was the deputy commander of the US-led military coalition against ISIS, the Combined Joined Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, until 2019 and Major-General commanding the Household Division until 2023. Early life Ghika is the son of Brigadier Prince John Ghika, an Irish Guards officer who traced his royal title back to 1658, when the Albano-Romanian Ghica dynasty ruled over Moldavia and later Wallachia. Chris Ghika does not use the title "Prince" publicly. He was educated at Ampleforth College. Military career Ghika was commissioned into the Irish Guards in 1993, upon completing the commissioning course at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. After various field and staff roles, he became commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, in 2010. He was deployed as the head of a battlegroup, as a Lieutenant Colonel, to Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He later went ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkhas, and 28,330 volunteer reserve personnel. The modern British Army traces back to 1707, with antecedents in the English Army and Scots Army that were created during the Restoration in 1660. The term ''British Army'' was adopted in 1707 after the Acts of Union between England and Scotland. Members of the British Army swear allegiance to the monarch as their commander-in-chief, but the Bill of Rights of 1689 and Claim of Right Act 1689 require parliamentary consent for the Crown to maintain a peacetime standing army. Therefore, Parliament approves the army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years. The army is administered by the Ministry of Defence and commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. The British ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1802 as a boys' school, it is situated in the grounds of the Benedictine monastery, Ampleforth Abbey. The school is in a valley with sports pitches, wooded areas and lakes. Its affiliated preparatory school, St Martin's Ampleforth, which lay across the valley at Gilling Castle, closed in 2020. The school is known as the Catholic Eton and has boarding fees of £39,900 per annum. The school passed an ISI inspection in 2020 and a subsequent inspection for material change, however failed an Ofsted inspection a week later, resulting in an admissions ban from the DfE. The ban was overturned in April 2021 following another Ofsted inspection which reported that they were satisfied with Ampleforth's safeguarding arrangements. History The college began as a small school for 70 boys found ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn. It is located in the wider Temple area of London, near the Royal Courts of Justice, and within the City of London. History During the 12th and early 13th centuries the law was taught, in the City of London, primarily by the clergy. But a papal bull in 1218 prohibited the clergy from practising in the secular courts (where the English common law system operated, as opposed to the Roman civil law favoured by the Church). As a result, law began to be practised and taught by laymen instead of by clerics. To protect their schools from competition, first Henry II and later Henry III issued proclamations prohibiting the teaching of the civil law within the City of London. The common law lawyers migrated to the hamlet of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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King Charles III
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to accede to the British throne following the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, on 8 September 2022. Charles was born in Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and was three when his mother ascended the throne in 1952, making him the heir apparent. He was made Prince of Wales in 1958 and his investiture was held in 1969. He was educated at Cheam and Gordonstoun schools, as was his father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Charles later spent six months at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cambridge, Charles served in the Air Force and Navy from 1971 to 1976. In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spenc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Death And State Funeral Of Elizabeth II
On 8 September 2022, at 15:10 BST, Elizabeth II, Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the List of monarchs in Britain by length of reign, longest-reigning British monarch, died of old age at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. The Queen's death was publicly announced at 18:30. She was succeeded by her eldest son, Charles III. The death of the Queen set in motion Operation London Bridge, a collection of plans including arrangements for her State funerals in the United Kingdom, state funeral, and supported by Operation Unicorn (Scotland), Operation Unicorn, which set protocols for her death occurring in Scotland. The United Kingdom observed a National day of mourning, national mourning period of 10 days. The Queen's lying in state took place in Westminster Hall from 14 to 19 September, during which time an estimated 250,000 people The Queue, queued to pay their respects. The state funeral service was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Westminster Hall
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank of the River Thames in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Its name, which derives from the neighbouring Westminster Abbey, may refer to several historic structures but most often: the ''Old Palace'', a medieval building-complex largely destroyed by fire in 1834, or its replacement, the ''New Palace'' that stands today. The palace is owned by the Crown. Committees appointed by both houses manage the building and report to the Speaker of the House of Commons and to the Lord Speaker. The first royal palace constructed on the site dated from the 11th century, and Westminster became the primary residence of the Kings of England until fire destroyed the royal apartments in 1512 (after which, the nearby Palace ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original castle was built in the 11th century, after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I (who reigned 1100–1135), it has been used by the reigning monarch and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. The castle's lavish early 19th-century state apartments were described by early 20th century art historian Hugh Roberts as "a superb and unrivalled sequence of rooms widely regarded as the finest and most complete expression of later Georgian taste".Hugh Roberts, ''Options Report for Windsor Castle'', cited Nicolson, p. 79. Inside the castle walls is the 15th-century St George's Chapel, considered by the historian John Martin Robinson to be "one of the supreme achievements of English P ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Trooping The Colour
Trooping the Colour is a ceremony performed every year in London, United Kingdom, by regiments of the British Army. Similar events are held in other countries of the Commonwealth. Trooping the Colour has been a tradition of British infantry regiments since the 17th century, and since 1748 has marked the official birthday of the British sovereign, although its roots go back much earlier. Each year, one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the Household Division is selected to troop (carry) its colours through the ranks of guards. The colours were once used on the battlefield as a rallying point. During the ceremony, the monarch travels down the Mall from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade in a royal procession with a sovereign's escort of Household Cavalry (mounted troops or horse guards). After receiving a royal salute, the monarch inspects his troops of the Household Division and the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery. The entire Household Division assembly then co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Army Headquarters (United Kingdom)
Army Headquarters is a British Army organisation based at Marlborough Lines, Hampshire. The equivalent in the Royal Navy is Navy Command Headquarters at Portsmouth, and the equivalent in the Royal Air Force is Headquarters Air Command at High Wycombe. History Until 31 October 2011, British Army forces were commanded by a four star named Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces. Under a major army command reorganisation effective 1 November 2011, the Chief of the General Staff took direct command of the Army through a new structure known as Army Headquarters.Army Command reorganization Defence Marketing Intelligence, 10 November 2011 Army Headquarters, which started to take responsibility for more than 2,000 military and civilian personnel, was establ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1st Infantry Division (United States)
The 1st Infantry Division is a combined arms division of the United States Army, and is the oldest continuously serving division in the Regular Army. It has seen continuous service since its organization in 1917 during World War I. It was officially nicknamed "The Big Red One" (abbreviated "BRO") after its shoulder patch and is also nicknamed "The Fighting First." The division has also received troop monikers of "The Big Dead One" and "The Bloody First" as puns on the respective officially sanctioned nicknames. It is currently based at Fort Riley, Kansas. World War I A few weeks after the American entry into World War I, the First Expeditionary Division, later designated the 1st Infantry Division, was constituted on 24 May 1917, in the Regular Army, and was organized on 8 June 1917, at Fort Jay, on Governors Island in New York harbor under the command of Brigadier General William L. Sibert, from Army units then in service on the Mexico–United States border and at var ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. , its population is 40.2 million (officially estimated to be 32.9 million), composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks. Kabul is the country's largest city and serves as its capital. Human habitation in Afghanistan dates back to the Middle Paleolithic era, and the country's Geostrategy, strategic location along the historic Silk Road has led it to being described, pict ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Helmand Province
Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 districts, encompassing over 1,000 villages, and roughly 1,446,230 settled people. Lashkargah serves as the provincial capital. Helmand was part of the '' Greater Kandahar'' region until made into a separate province by the Afghan government in the 20th century. The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region of the province, providing water used for irrigation. The Kajaki Dam, which is one of Afghanistan's major reservoirs, is located in the Kajaki district. Helmand is believed to be one of the world's largest opium producing regions, responsible for around 42% of the world's total production. This is believed to be more than the whole of Myanmar, which is the second-largest producing nation after Afghanistan. The region al ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |