The Venerable Order of Saint John

Commemorating the 125th Anniversary of the Hospital of St. John



The Duke of Gloucester (right), Grand Prior of the Order of St. John, inside Priory House. Her Majesty is centrally depicted in portrait as Sovereign of the Order.

The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem is the 19th century revival in Britain of the ancient Knights Hospitaller, the military religious order that was charged with the care and defense of the Holy Land during the First Crusade. The revived order received a Royal Charter from Queen Victoria in 1888 and spread across the United Kingdom, the British Commonwealth, and the United States of America.

Today it is one of the five "Mutually Recognised Orders of St. John" - one Catholic with four in Protestant Alliance - bringing together a spirit of Christian unity in the Order not seen since the loss of Malta to Napolean in 1798, when the Hospitallers were dispersed from their last military stronghold.

The Order of St. John in the English-speaking world is not a state order, but a royal order of chivalry. Her Majesty the Queen is Sovereign Head of the Order, and His Royal Highness, the Duke of Gloucester, is the Order's Grand Prior. Their Excellencies, the Governors-General, head each of the eight national Priories, and form part of the Grand Council with the other Great Officers of the Order. The Priory in the United States is headed by a gentleman by the name of John R Drexel IV, Esq.

The Duke of Gloucester has been Grand Prior of the Order of St. John since 1974. The Order, one of whose motto is 'PRO UTILITATE HOMINUM - In the service of humanity', cares for the sick and promotes its international ideals through its work with the St John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem and the St John Ambulance Foundation, of which there are some 30 Commonwealth associations worldwide. His Royal Highness recently marked the 125th anniversary of the Hospital of St John in Jerusalem.