Chamber of Shipping Event Gets Royal Attendance at 100th Anniversary Celebration

UK – With the news that that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal will be the guest of honour at the UK Chamber of Shipping's Annual Dinner being held at the London Hilton hotel on 3 February, it is worth considering just what a contribution the lady herself makes to the logistics industry, and indeed to many other spheres of British life.

At a time when the press is once again raking over the apparently momentous news that one of Princess Anne’s nephews and his other half are ‘sort of emigrating’, the lady herself is carrying on her usual role of being everywhere at once to promote what is best about her country.

The Princess Royal works in an official capacity for over 200 charitable organisations, including being patron of Transaid, an industry favourite and her latest appointment to speak at the Hilton is in her role as Master of The Corporation of Trinity House.

Despite the ever present need for security, the Princess never misses the opportunity to support her chosen causes. Many readers will have forgotten, and indeed younger ones not even be aware of, the attack by a lone gunman on her car in 1974 in an attempt to kidnap her. The attack saw her personal protection officer shot, along with her driver and a journalist, but all witnesses say she remained unperturbed and refused to get out of the car (the phrase ‘not bloody likely’ is often quoted).

Almost inevitably that scenario took place as she returned from another charity event and it was subsequently used as the inspiration for a scene from Tom Clancy’s Patriot Games. Now one hopes for a little less excitement as she joins 800 guests to celebrate the success of the UK shipping industry on the 100th anniversary of the Chamber receiving its Royal Charter.

Charters are normally reserved for bodies that work in the public interest and which demonstrate pre-eminence, stability and permanence in their particular field. UK Chamber of Shipping Chief Executive Bob Sanguinetti, summed up saying:

“There is no greater supporter of our industry than The Princess Royal. We are hugely honoured to welcome her to our Annual Dinner especially in the year we celebrate the centenary of the Chamber receiving its Royal Charter, an instrument or incorporation, granted by the Monarch, which confers independent legal personality on an organisation and defines its objectives, constitution and powers to govern its own affairs.

“The Annual Dinner is the highlight of the shipping industry calendar. With nearly 800 guests coming together to recognise an industry which employs over 180,000 people and brings in £19 billion a year to our economy we couldn’t be more thrilled to have The Princess Royal join us on this special occasion.”

The event will also see other luminaries attend in the form of shipping minister Nusrat Ghani and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps who will be making the key note address. The UK Ship Register are the main dinner sponsor, with Northern Marine as the President’s Reception sponsor and Lloyd’s Register as Silver and Jotun as Bronze sponsor respectively. V.Group, global provider of ship management and marine services, will be a bronze sponsor of the event and Graham Westgarth, CEO, commented:

“We are pleased to be sponsoring the UK Chamber of Shipping Annual Dinner this year. The UK is a global hub for maritime business and the UK shipping industry is vital to the UK economy. In an industry that is facing unprecedented challenges, it is essential for members to unite to support innovation, progression and sustainable growth to ensure the UK shipping industry is fit for the future, and keeping the UK major players in the global shipping industry.”