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A typical athlete's heart churns out 25 to 30 litres (up to 8 gallons) of blood per minute. |
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Freemasons open a lodge at Buckingham Palace
Posted on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 (CDT) by Thoth
 A branch of the Freemasons secret society is being formed by members of the Royal Household and police who protect the Royal Family. And their decision to call it The Royal Household Lodge has put them on a collision course with Buckingham Palace – as has their plan to co-opt the royal cipher – EIIR – for their regalia, to underline their connection to the Queen.
Although the Queen's cousin, the Duke of Kent, is head of the secretive organisation – he is Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England – the new branch has not gone down well with the Royal Family. The Palace has no power to halt the formation of the lodge, but it is determined to stop it adopting its chosen name and block it from hijacking the Queen's EIIR.
Use of the Royal Household title and any related symbols requires official permission. Angry officials clearly feel the new lodge's proposed name is the last thing the Palace needs at a time when it is trying to be seen as more modern and open.
Last night,
a spokesman for the Queen said: “Buckingham Palace has not, and would
not, endorse this sort of arrangement. No permission has been given by
the Palace for a Buckingham Palace lodge or anything similar.
“If permission is sought, it will be declined.”
The founding of the lodge
has also alarmed some Royal staff who do not wish to be associated with
the fraternity famed for bizarre initiation rites, mystical regalia and
mysterious codes of conduct.
It is also likely to cause consternation among career women in the Palace, as it is a men-only organisation.
Non-members in Royal
service are said to be fearful they will be overlooked for prestigious
promotions and left unsupported in any below-stairs clashes.
Masons are widely believed
to further the business and professional interests of brother Masons,
although they would deny this and claim it is a harmless social and
charitable organisation.
The lodge, which will not
meet at the Palace but will be based in a Masonic Hall elsewhere, will
be open to all members of the Royal Household, from armed police
protection officers to below-stairs staff such as pages and footmen.
It will also recruit staff in other Royal residences including Windsor Castle, Clarence House and St James's Palace.
A Palace insider said:
“There's a lot of consternation and rightly so. People fear a lot of
business will now be conducted behind closed doors so that those who
don't sign up to Freemasonry can't have any effect on it.
“They are concerned that Masons will be preferred and those who aren't Masons will be written out of the script.
“Backstairs life is already
complicated enough – there are all sorts of allegiances and cliques and
cabals. People fall in and out of favour and there's a lot of
whispering in ears.
“The last thing the household needs is a secret society, especially one with the reputation of Freemasonry.”
The United Grand Lodge of
England issued the Royal Household Lodge with a warrant in June last
year although it will not formally exist until the consecration
ceremony on May 19 at the Freemasons' Hall in London.
That will be followed by a celebration dinner for up to 300 Masons and their guests at the historic Lincoln's Inn.
The insider said the idea
had been generated by serving and past members of the Royalty
Protection Squad, SO14. With new recruits, the total number involved is
approximately 70.
Author and broadcaster
Martin Short, whose book Inside The Brotherhood exposed Masonic
practices in the UK, said: “It's a catastrophic time to start such a
lodge, given all the problems facing the Royal Family at present.
“The Royal Family is desperately trying to prove it is modernising – in PR terms, this is bad news for them.”
Copyright: Daily Mail
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