St George's House, based in the grounds of

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

, is a British organisation committed to ''"effecting change for the better by nurturing wisdom through dialogue"''. Founded in 1966 by the

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

and the then Dean of Windsor, Robin Woods, it brings together people of responsibility and influence in business, government, society and the church to consult on contemporary issues of moment.

Name and mission

St George's House, the organisation, takes its name from the building of that name in close proximity to and associated with

St George's Chapel St George's Chapel, formally titled The King's Free Chapel of the College of St George, Windsor Castle, at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a Royal Peculiar (a church und ...

within the perimeter of the Castle. It belongs to the College of Canons, founded in 1348 and is where participants are hosted for the duration of consultations on given topics. The organisation brings together thinkers from different disciplines and roles in British society with the purpose of investigating means of overcoming some of the major challenges in contemporary society through dialogue.

Association with the Bard

The Vicars' Hall is part of the premises used for consultations.

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'' is claimed to have received its first ever performance in the Vicars' Hall, (built in 1415) in front of

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

, in 1597, for the festival of the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

, though specific evidence for this seems lacking.

Council of St George's House

The Council of St George's House comprises the Representative Knights of the

Most Noble Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, it is outranked in precedence only by the decorations of the Victoria Cr ...

Dean and Canons of Windsor The Dean and Canons of Windsor are the ecclesiastical body of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Foundation The college of canons was established in 1348 by letters patent of Edward III of England, King ...

and other members.

Representative Knights of the Most Noble Order of the Garter

The Princess Royal Princess Royal is a title customarily (but not automatically) awarded by British monarchs to their eldest daughters. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been ...

, KG, KT, GCVO, GCStJ, QSO, GCL, CMM, CD, ADC(P) * The Duke of Abercorn, KG

The Dean and Canons of Windsor

* The Rev Canon Dr Hueston Finlay * The Rev Canon Martin Poll * The Rev Canon Dr Mark Powell

Members

* The Rt Hon The Baroness Blackstone, PC * The Rt Hon The Lord Curry of Kirkharle, CBE *Mr David Darsch *Ms Katie Ghose * The Rt Rev Dom Christopher Jamison, OSB *Lt Gen Phil Jones, CB, CBE, DL * Dame Mary Marsh, DBE, FRSA *Mr John Newbegin * The Rt Hon The Baroness Northover, PC * The Rev and Rt Hon The Baroness Sherlock, OBE * The Rt Hon Dame Caroline Spelman, DBE * The Rt Rev Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich * The Rt Hon The Lord Waldegrave of North Hill, PC

Events

Consultations

St George's House hosts around 60 events for leaders from across society each year. Previous consultations have taken place with

Help Rescue the Planet Help Rescue The Planet is an educational charity dedicated to minimising air pollution and mitigating climate change. In 2012 it organised the St George's House Consultations in Windsor and The International Conference on Climate Change in Londo ...

(2012), the Airey Neave Trust on countering

violent extremism Violent extremism is a form of extremism that condones and enacts violence with Ideology, ideological or deliberate intent, such as Religious violence, religious or political violence. Violent extremist views often conflate with Religious violen ...

(2014), and with the Corsham Institute and

RAND Europe The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...

(2016).

St George's House Lectures

The Annual Lecture

The Annual Lecture was established in 1978 and is sponsored by Rio Tinto. The first lecture was given by Mr

Kingman Brewster Kingman Brewster Jr. (June 17, 1919 – November 8, 1988) was an American educator, academic and diplomat. He served as the 17th president of Yale University and as United States ambassador to the United Kingdom. Early life Brewster was born i ...

, then Ambassador of the US in London. The 2016 Lecture was given by Dr

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...

, former Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Elson Ethics Lecture

The Elson Ethics Lecture is supported by Ambassador Edward Elston to promote discussion and debate on issues of an ethical and moral nature. The 2016 Elson Ethics Lecture was given by the Baroness Manningham-Buller LG DCB, former Director-General of

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

, the Security Service.

Society of Leadership Fellows

The Society of Leadership Fellows was established in 2016 to recognise the 50th anniversary of the founding of St George's House

In popular media

St George's House, the Dean of Windsor, and Prince Philip are prominently featured, albeit in a fictionalized series of events, in the seventh episode of the third series of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

'', "Moondust".

References

External links

St George's House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George's House (Windsor Castle) Windsor Castle 1966 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1966 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Cultural organisations based in the United Kingdom 1966 establishments in England Non-profit organisations based in England Social history of the United Kingdom Organisations based in Berkshire Windsor, Berkshire