Meghan Markle’s ‘mystery woman’ given huge recognition in New Year Honours List
MEGHAN, Duchess of Sussex’s aide Clara Loughran has been awarded recognition as a Member of the Royal Victorian Order in the New Year Honour’s List by Queen Elizabeth II.
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Mrs Loughran is the senior programme co-ordinator to Meghan and Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex. She previously caught attention as the “mystery woman” who gave the Duchess flowers before her wedding. The award recognises distinguished personal service to members of the monarch’s family.
The Mirror reports Mrs Loughran joined Harry and Meghan on their Oceania tour.
She previously worked in the household of Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.
Mrs Loughran’s mother met the Cambridges and revealed: “William said to me that Clara is the star of the office.”
Others awarded membership of the Royal Victorian Order include Kate’s assistant private secretary Natalie Burrows and Lee Dobson, head valet to Charles, Prince of Wales.
Queen Elizabeth II made her private secretary Sir Edward Young, a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.
Sir Edward is the change of communications between the Queen and Downing Street plus the other Commonwealth realms.
These are independent sovereign nations of which the Queen is head of state.
In addition to the UK, they are Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
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The awards are given independent of Downing Street.
Also recognised this year is Professor Charles Mackworth-Young, former medical director of King Edward VII’s Hospital.
The hospital named after the Queen’s great grandfather has treated the Royal Family for decades.
Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh spent four night there following a recent illness.
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It was Edward’s mother Queen Victoria who devised the award in 1896.
Living citizens of all Commonwealth realms are eligible.
An exception is Canada as for over a century, the Canadian government have requested the sovereign not to grant knighthoods, baronetcies and peerages.
This bars Canadians from the top two levels of the six-grade honour grade.
Anthony Blunt, the former Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures was stripped of his honour in 1979 after it was revealed he was a Soviet spy.
Mr Blunt was a member of the infamous Cambridge Five and he confessed in 1964 after being offered immunity, this was kept a secret until being revealed in 1979 by Margaret Thatcher.